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India's Sameer Verma ultimately finished as the runners-up winning the silver medal at the recently concluded Asian Youth Championships (The Badminton Asia Youth Under 19 championships 2011) that were held at Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh in India.
For India, the highlight of the tournament was the splendid performance of Sameer Verma who won all the matches that he played in at the team event, and followed this up with a run right upto the finals of the individual men's singles event.
In the final match 2nd seeded Zulkiffli Zulfadli of Malaysia defeated Sameer Verma of India by a score of 21-15 21-17 in two straight sets. However not withstanding Sameer's loss in the final match, he has proved with his stellar performance that he is a player who can bring badminton glory to India in the next few years in the men's singles event.
Asian countries such as China, Malaysia, and Indonesia are very strong in badminton compared to most of the western countries, and Thailand and India are also making good progress. Hence the Asia Youth badminton championship tournament was of special significance as many of the youth players who shined today, will go on to make further progress and are likely to emerge as world champions in the future.
Hence for India, Sameer Verma's performance is very significant. It proves that he has adequate potential, and if he keeps on working hard on improving his game and his fitness levels, he could well go on to achieve the same kind of success in the men's singles badminton event, that Saina Nehwal has achieved in the women's singles. However he still has a long way to go, for such dreams to materialize.
India's future in the women's singles also looks good in the form of 16 year old P.V. Sindhu of Hyderabad, India's rising young badminton star, who also made her way to the semi-finals of the women's singles event. However her further progress in the Asian youth badminton tournament was put to a halt by Sun Yu of China who defeated her by a score of 13-21, 21-12, 21-10.
Later in the finals Sun Yu went on to defeat Chinese compatriot Shen Yaying in two straight sets 21-8, 21-13.
India's badminton future in the next 5 years or so, looks good because of players such as Sameer Verma and PV Sindhu who are making their mark at the junior levels now. A lot of credit also should be given to coach and former badminton star Pullela Gopichand who is successfully grooming young players at his Gopichand badminton academy in Hyderanad into world-beaters. Some indirect credit also goes to Saina Nehwal, who by her achievements has inspired many youngsters in India to take up badminton.
While Malaysia and China grabbed the men's and women's singles under-19 youth titles, the doubles results are as below:
Asian Youth 2011 Badminton - Men's Doubles Results:
Winners (Gold Medal) : Lin Chia Yu / Huang Po Jui (Taiwan)
Runners-up (Silver Medal) :Lu Ching Yao / Huang Chu En (Taiwan)
Asian Youth 2011 Badminton - Women's Doubles Results:
Winners: Andini Suci Rizki / Nuraidah Tiara Rosalia (Indonesia)
Runners-up: Chow Mei Kuan / Lee Meng Yean (Malaysia)
Asian Youth 2011 Badminton - Mixed Doubles Results:
Winners: Nugroho Lukhi Apri /Amelia Ririn (Indonesia)
Runner-ups: Pei Tianyi / Ou Dongni (China)
The final match scores are worth noting: The Indonesian pair won 15-21 21-16 25-23. A real nail-biter finish for the championship title, that could have gone either way.
Earlier in the week, China had won the Asian Youth Mixed team championships-2011 title in the team events, in which Malaysia had finished second, and India & Indonesia were the losing semi-finalists. To everyone's surprise out of the five individual events, they could win only the women's singles title.
If these results are anything to going by then it seems like its getting more and more tougher for China to hold on to their domination in the sport of badminton.
Read this Interesting Article:
Saina Nehwal's Daily Schedule and Fitness Regimen
A day in the life of Saina Nehwal. Rigorous Training. Yoga Nidra meditation.
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