Lakshay wins bronze in int’l badminton tourney
Lakshay Sharma, city shuttler added another medal in his kitty when he won the bronze in the men’s singles category in the Polish International Badminton Tournament, held recently.
Lakshay (18) gave a fine performance in this tournament, held at Lublin in Poland from September 20 to 22, in which 241 players from all over the world, vied for the top honours.
This is the second title, Lakshay won in the men’s category in an international competition. Earlier, he won the silver in the APACS Kazakhstan International Badminton Series, held at Shymkent in Kazakhstan in December, last year.
In Poland, Lakshay, in the first round match, overpowered second seeded (world 133), Kian Yu Oei from Germany 22-20, 21-17 and qualified for the knock-out phase. In the pre-quarterfinals, Lakshay outperformed hosts Poland’s Maksymilian Danielak 21-18, 21-16.
In the quarter final, Lakshay got the better of Nadeem Dalvi (world 185) of England whom he outwitted 21-12, 21-13 and secured a berth in the last eight stage.
In the semi-final, Lakshay was pitted against third seeded and World 131, Gustav Bjorkler from Sweden. He warded off stiff challenge from his opponent and won the opening set 21-19. But, in the next one, Lakshay lost his composure and lost it 13-21.
In the deciding set, Lakshay fought valiantly before going down 16-21 which also cost him the match and he had to be content with the bronze. However, by winning a medal in this tournament, Lakshay has improved upon his world rank from 316 to 250.
Anand Tiwari, coach at the National Centre Excellence (NCE), Guwahati, run by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) and former national player along with Dr Sulbha Jindal, sports secretary, Sutlej Club, joined others in appreciating Lakshay, his father, an NIS qualified coach, Mangat Rai Sharma on this achievement.
