Ludhiana shuttler Lakshay adds another feather in his cap

Anil Datt

Ludhiana, April 21

City badminton player Lakshay Sharma added another feather in his cap when he secured a bronze medal in the singles category in the All India Junior (U-19) Ranking Badminton Tournament, held from April 9 to 15 at Bengaluru.

Lakshay, a student of Class XII at Sacred Heart Convent School, Sarabha Nagar, here, continued to perform consistently and overpowered his experienced opponents to finish among position holders in the tournament in which around 750 players from across the country took part.

Lakshay’s achievement at Bengaluru was of significance as being a U-16 player, he competed in the U-19 category and won a medal there.

Trainee of his father, Mangat Rai Sharma, an NIS qualified coach, Lakshay, in the first round of main draw, defeated Pranav Samla of Telangana 21-15, 21-12 and in the next round, he beat India seed number 9, Sai Satya Sarvesh Yakala of Puducherry 21-17, 21-11.

In the third round, Lakshay outplayed India sub-junior team player Lokesh Reddy K of Telangana in three games 22-24, 21-10, 21-15 and booked his berth in the knock-out stage.

In the quarterfinal, Lakshay got the better of Satwik Reddy of Telangana 21-17, 21-18 to advance into the semi-final.

In the semi-final, Lakshay was pitted against fifth seeded Darshan Pujari of Maharashtra and fought it tooth and nail before losing it 24-26, 21-23 and had to content with a bronze medal.

Prior to this, Lakshay had won silver (doubles) and bronze medals (singles) in the Sub-Junior National Badminton Championship at Bhubaneswar in Odisha, last year. Currently ranked third in India (singles and doubles) in the sub-junior section, Lakshay has many medals in his kitty that include gold medals in the North Zone and National Ranking Tournaments. Besides, he annexed titles in the Swiss Open Youth Badminton Championship and Glasgow Youth International Championship, a couple of years ago. Sister Veena Dsouza, principal, Sacred Heart Convent School, and office-bearers of the Punjab Badminton Association, congratulated Lakshay on winning a medal in the national championship. They wished him success in future competitions also.

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