Indian wins badminton double in Dubai

K. Nanda Gopal gave his reputation as one of upcoming talents of Indian badminton a big boost with a double crown at the India Club-Western Union UAE Open badminton tournament at the India Club. He walked away with the men’s super league singles crown and then the doubles title, partnering B. Sumeeth Reddy. Twenty-one-year-old Gopal is a product of the P. Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad and is ranked India’s No 5. He produced a sterling performance in the final to down K. Ajay Kumar 21-19, 21-7. Kumar is also from the same academy and is ranked No.18 in India. Kurmar started strongly in the first set and raced and was leading by five points, when Gopal lifted his game and clinched the set. In the second set, Gopal was in full flow and wrapped up the set with little effort to prove that he is the worthy winner of the title. Inspired by his singles’ title win, Gopal then joined Sumeeth Reddy to down Indonesia’s Didi Purwanto and Bahrain’s Jaffer E. Jaffer Ebrahim in the men’s doubles final. Gopal and Reddy won 21-16, 21-14. Incidentally, Ebrahim is one of the most outstanding talents in the Middle East. The tournament was contested by more than 500 players.Later an exhibition match was played between Dubai’s C.P. Shibil and Rohit Haridas against Gopichand Badminton Academy players Rohit Yadav and Vikas Harsha. The Dubai pair lost 9-21, 21-15, 21-18. Sanjay Verma, the Consul-General of India, gave away the prizes in the presence of Ram Buxani, the chairman of the India Club and Sunil Singh, Convenor Sports of India Club. Gopal received the men’s singles trophy and cash prize of Dh 2,000 and Carrera Sunglasses while the men’s doubles winners pocketed Dh1,250 each. Rohit Yadav and Sumeeth Reddy finished third and fourth respectively in the men’s singles.from gulf news.