Even as Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, M Sirkanth and HS Pranoy are dominating the global scene, the next generation of Indian badminton is making its marks on international events. Close on the heal of Lakshay Sen’s heroics and Asian Junior championship earlier this month, young Saurabh Veram, Kuhoo Garg and Rohan Kapoor have returned with medals from the Russia Open Super 100 event.
Indian shuttlers put up a spirited display at the Russai Open Touor’s Super 100 Badminton Championship with two podium finishes.Sourabh Verma stood out to bag the gold in the men’s singles event. Young mixed doubles duo of Rohan Kapoor and Kuhoo Garg finished with the silver medal.
This comes closely on the heels of Lakshya Sen’s gold medal winning performance at the Asian Juniors in Jakarta, just a fortnight ago.
The Indian shuttlers continued to put up a stellar display and it was capped by the sixth-seeded Sourabh who scripted a come-from-behind win to triumph over Japan’s Koki Watanabe in the summit clash. He slayed the Japanese 18-21, 21-12, 21-17 to clinch his first title of the season in a thriller that lasted exactly an hour, Badminton Association of India has stated in a Press release.
In the first game, Sourabh had a lacklustre beginning as he was trailing 5-11 even though Watanabe managed only a slender lead initially. Yet, the Indian showed great character and levelled at 18-18 before the world No 119 Japanese ran through to finish strongly.
Sourabh, obviously eager to keep himself in the hunt, looked much more composed and with his effective half-court smashes and an equally strong net play, maintained the lead to take the game 21-12 win a lot of ease.
Watanabe looked resolute to not let his guard down in the decider, surging with an early lead of 9-3. But Sourav staged a fine recovery from nowhere and exhibiting his prowess at rallies, pulled himself upfront, thanks to some clinical baseline smashes and decisive drops. In his anxiety to catch up with Sourabh, the Japanese made several unforced errors which only helped the Indian’s cause as the Japanese wilted under pressure. Sourabh romped home winners with the game and match at 21-17.
Sourabh, who won the recent All India Senior National ranking tournament to make the cut for the Asian Games squad said, “It feels good to win the title and I am very satisfied with my performance here. I played my natural game and am happy how the results panned out.This win will keep my morale high for the Jakarta Games next month.”
Earlier, Kuhoo Garg and Rohan Kapoor, who had won the silver at the Lagos International last week, continued their sublime form to repeat the success at the Russian Open. They put up a valiant effort but succumbed 19-21, 17-21 to the Japanese-Russian combine of Vladimir Ivanon and Min Kyung Kim in the final.
The young pair is now all set to look forward to making their maiden appearance at the World Championships. Kuhoo has shown an unparalleled commitment in her pursuit to excellence.
Congratulating the players for their fine show, BAI Secretary General, Ajay K Singhania said; “Our primary goal is to promote and give exposure to more youngsters. The recent performances of our younger lot are an indication that we are headed in the right direction. It is really commendable. We will see participation of 25 players in the World Championship, which again is a good sign for Indian badminton.”
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