Croatian International badminton | BM Rahul crowned men’s champion; Tanvi Lad loses in finals
India's BM Rahul bagged his third title of the year as he defeated Germany’s Max Weisskirchen 12-20, 22-20, 21-14 to clinch the Croatian International title in Zagreb on Sunday. Meanwhile, Tanvi Lad suffered a tragic defeat 21-18, 21-13 against Laura Sarosi of Hungary in the women’s singles final.
India youngster BM Rahul Bharadwaj won his third title in what was only his fourth international tournament of 2019. He made a solid comeback to beat Germany’s Max Weisskirchen 12-20, 22-20, 21-14 in the final to clinch the Croatian International title in Zagreb. Rahul, who is a product of the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy trainee, struggled to play against his tall German opponent in the opening game but recovered well in the second and third game to gain advantage. The match between the duo lasted for an hour and four minutes.
In the women’s singles category, Tanvi Lad went down 21-18, 21-13 against third seed Laura Sarosi of Hungary in the final. However, the 26-year-old failed to make it a memorable double for the Indian team in Croatia. She began well by taking a 6-3 lead in the opening game but could not keep the momentum going as she lost the next six points to hand the initiative to her opponent who took full advantage and won the first game 21-18.
Sarosi opened up a 4-0 lead after the restart and and Lad failed to fight back against her opponent to lose the game 21-12 in a match that lasted 37 minutes.