Indian shuttlers finished their campaign on a high with a gold and two silver medals at the BWF World Senior Badminton Championships 2019 in Katowice, Poland on Sunday.
Vijay Lancy Mascarenhas and Ajeet Hari Dass won Gold in 40 plus men’s doubles category, Manjusha Sudhir Sahasrabudhe and the pair of Prabhu Naik Naidu Kona and Suzanne Venglet bagged a silver in 55 plus women’s singles and 50 plus mixed doubles categories respectively.
Former national level players, Mascarenhas and Dass made a superb comeback in their 19-21, 21-17, 21-19 upset win over the 3/4th seeds Esben B. Kaempegaard and Morten Eilby Rasmussen of Denmark in the summit clash.
Manjusha Sudhir Sahasrabudhe made a bright start to her final against the top seed Zhou Xin of Hong Kong but went down fighting 21-14, 13-21, 13-21 in 37 minutes. Kona and Venglet’s superb run came to an end at the hands of English top seeds Rajeev Bagga and Elizabeth Austin, 13-21, 14-21.
Mascarenhas and Dass dedicated their medal to acclaimed coach Sudhakar Reddy, who passed away due to a cardiac arrest while the tournament was in progress. “Coming back from a game down to win the title against a seeded pair gives us immense satisfaction. We would like to dedicate this medal to Shri Sudhakar Reddy, who was not just a celebrated coach but also an inspiration to us all,” said Mascarenhas.
More than 1500 players from 56 countries had participated in 45 categories in this tournament in different age groups. The next edition of this tournament will be held in Spain after a couple of years.