Indian badminton players showcased their dominance at the Azerbaijan International and Sri Lanka International Challenge tournaments, both Grade 3 category events sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation, on Sunday. Malvika Bansod secured the women’s singles title at the Azerbaijan International in Azerbaijan, while Satish Kumar Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath claimed victory in the mixed doubles category.
The event saw an all-Indian semifinal lineup, with Malvika defeating Tanya Hemanth in straight games (21-15, 22-20) to clinch the women’s singles crown.
In a thrilling mixed doubles final, youngsters Satish and Aadya triumphed over the experienced duo of B Sumeeth Reddy and N Sikki Reddy in a hard-fought three-game battle. Despite losing the opening game, Satish and Aadya rallied to win the match 13-21, 22-20, 21-10.
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In the men’s singles final, Sameer Verma had to settle for the runner-up position after withdrawing from the match in the second game due to discomfort. Despite winning the first game convincingly 21-13 against South Korea’s Jeon Hyeok Jin, Sameer withdrew while trailing 3-6 in the second game.
Additionally, PS Ravikrishna and Sankar Prasad Udayakumar finished as runners-up in the men’s doubles final, suffering a straight-game defeat to Ondrej Kral and Adam Mendrek.
Meanwhile, at the Sri Lanka International Challenge, Kartikey Gulshan Kumar emerged victorious in the men’s singles category, defeating compatriot Rithvik Sanjeevi Satish Kumar 21-18, 21-17. Isharani Baruah claimed the women’s singles title by defeating fellow Indian Rakshitha Sree 22-20, 21-14.
Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh clinched the mixed doubles title, while the Padna sisters Rutaparna and Swetaparna suffered defeat in the women’s doubles final against a Thai pair.
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