Ludhiana shuttler Lakshay bags two gold medals

Ludhiana shuttler Lakshay Sharma continued his impressive ascent on the national circuit by clinching two gold medals at the All India Inter-Institutional Badminton Team and Individual Championship. The tournament was organised at Raipur in Chhattisgarh.

Representing the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the 20-year-old emerged champion in team and singles events at the championship organised by the AAI under the aegis of the Badminton Association of India.

The championship saw participation from premier institutional teams, including the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), Food Corporation of India (FCI), Indian Air Force (IAF), Indian Post and the AAI. Several internationally ranked Indian shuttlers were a part of the teams.

The AAI dominated the team competition, defeating RBI 3-0 in the title clash to lift the trophy, Earlier, the team prevailed 3-0 over India Post in the semifinal and defeated ESIC 3-0 in the quarterfinals.

Lakshay then crowned his campaign by clinching the men’s singles title. He defeated teammate Laksh Chengappa 17-21, 21-19 and 5-2 in the final as the latter retired due to an injury.

He outclassed Amit Sharma (India Post) 21-13, 21-16 in the semifinal and defeated Sidharth Khakar (LIC) 21-11, 21-16 in the quarterfinals.

The medals have earned Lakshay a berth in the national championship, scheduled to be held in December. He will represent the AAI in the team and individual events.

A final year BA student at Chandigarh University, Lakshay trains under watchful guidance of his father, Mangat Rai Sharma, a Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports (NIS)-qualified national badminton coach. His latest achievement further establishes him as one of the state’s most promising young badminton talents.