Indians charted success stories in Vietnam, Myanmar and the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, as Sourabh Verma, Kaushal Dharmamer and the junior mixed and women’s doubles of Ayan Rashid and Rasnim Mir and Tanisha Crasto and Aditi Bhatt sealed victories in the finals of the Vietnam Open, Myanmar International Series and Dubai Junior International Series in badminton respectively.
To top it off, Pankaj Advani struck a 22-title winning streak with a victory at the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) Championship in Myanmar. This is Advani’s fourth straight title at the IBSF Championships. At 34, Advani has brought home a world trophy every year since 2014.
Altogether, India won the top place in five events on Sunday.
Sourabh Verma, ranked 38 in Men’s Singles, won in the same against Chinese opponent Sun Fei Xiang, beating him 21-12, 17-21, 21-14 at the Vietnam Open Super 100 finals in Ho Chi Minh city.
Verma, 26, is a three-time national champion who has also won the 2018 Dutch Open and the 2018 Russia Open. The victory in Vietnam marks Verma’s second international title this year, after winning the Hyderabad Open in August and the Slovenian International in May.
A few thousand km away in Myanmar, Kaushal Dharmamer, world no 187 in men’s singles, beat Indonesian opponent Karono Karono (ranked 254) 18-21, 21-14, 21-11 to take home the Myanmar International Series.
Dharmamer, 23, had won the Hatzor International in October in 2018.
At the Dubai Junior International Series, both the boy’s and girl’s squads took home gold medals. In the boy’s category, Ayan Rashid and Rasnim Mir (both 14) won against Galuh and Zainaba from Indonesia and Zainaba 21-16, 22-24, 21-19.
In the girl’s category, Tanisha Crasto and Aditi Bhatt (both 16), the No 1 seeded WD pair, beat Treesa Jolly and Varshini 21-17, 21-17 to clinch the title.
In addition to the above, another Indian shuttler clinched a gold medal in badminton Men’s Singles this week, with Lakshya Sen, 18, winning at the Belgian International against Viktor Svendson of Denmark, 21-14, 21-15.
India has dominated in badminton this year, with P.V. Sindhu becoming world champion after her victory against Nozomi Okuhara, making her the first Indian to win gold at the BWF World Championships.
