BWF World Senior Badminton Championship | Ajith Haridas-Vijay Lancy lift coveted title
The Indian pair of Ajith Haridas and Vijay Lancy managed to win the men's doubles 40-plus title at the Yonex BWF World Senior Badminton Championship held at Katowice, Poland, on Monday. The duo defeated Denmark’s men’s doubles duo of Esben Kaempegaard and Morten Rasmussen in three games.
It was three years ago when the Polish Badminton Association had applied for organizing such a tournament where former players, who have already ended their professional career, would be participating.Â
Known as the world veteran championships in the Polish nomenclature, players from 35 to over 75 years have been competing in the tournament. This time saw as many as 1509 players competing for a week across twelve courts located in Spodek, from August 4 to 11.
India Haridas and Lancy were beaten in the first game 19-21 by Kaempegaard and Rasmussenm before they came back to win 21-17, 21-19 consecutively, TOI reported. In the previous round, they had beaten Xavier Engrand and Jerome Krawcyzk of France 21-13, 18-21, 21-8.
The limelight was hogged by White-and-Red star, i.e. 77-year-old Paweł Gasz, who won three medals in the competition.
One of India’s prime contenders in the tournament was Kiran Makode of LIC of India, Nagpur Division. Makode had previously won a silver medal in the men’s singles (45 plus) in Goa nationals and bronze medal in the men’s doubles (45 plus) category.