City shuttler shows mettle in state-level sub-jr meet

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, September 12

Making the district proud, city lad Abhinav Thakur clinched a gold and a silver medal in the recently held Punjab State Sub-junior Ranking Badminton Championship. While he won the gold in the Under-17 (doubles) tournament, he managed to add the silver to his kitty by defeating his opponent in the Under-17 singles category match.

The state-level championship was organised in Sangrur district from September 5 to 9 this month. Around 200 players from all over the state participated in it.

Thakur, a 15-year-old Class X student of Innocent Hearts School, had last month won a gold medal at the All India Sub-junior National Badminton Ranking Championship in the U-17 doubles category. The tournament was held in Guwahati from July 29 to August 4. As many as 1,500 players from the country participated in the championship under different categories.

“Remaining consistent with learning new techniques during practice helped me outshine in tournaments. I practices every day in the morning as well as evening,” he says.

His father Sudarshan Kumar Thakur said, “Abhinav has been undergoing training from Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy.”

Earlier, Abhinav had made the district proud by qualifying for the ‘Khelo India Mission’. With fourth All-India rank in badminton, he was selected by the Sports Ministry for the next Olympic Games. Sudarshan said, “Last year, Abhinav was the only player from the state who was selected for U-15 badminton games. Besides winning national games, he also participated in Junior International Grand Prix Championship.”