KAMPALA, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Two players from India came top at the Kampala International Badminton Open 2024 at the Lugogo Indoor Stadium in Kampala on Sunday.
The world's 210th ranked player Manraj Singh was the men's singles champion after he defeated Callum Smith from Scotland 21-10, 21-18 in a match that lasted 29 minutes.
Singh, who looked very composed, played a balanced game with good rallies, drops, drive and occasional shots. "I am happy to come to Uganda and emerge champions in the men's singles. This is very important because I have now accumulated points which will help me improve in the International ranking," Singh said after the match.
In the women's singles final, another Indian player Shreya Lele came out top after stopping Sreeyuktha Sreejith Parol from UAE 21-8, 21-8. It was a sweet win for the 280th world ranked player who defeated Parol, a player ranked above her at 227.
Malaysia's pair of Ashraf Daniel Zakaria and Ariffin Nazri Zakaria struggled to defeat the Indian brothers Viplave Kuvale and Viraj Kuvale 26-24, 21-18 in a final that lasted 33 minutes.
Zakaria was again a winner when he partnerned Lim Xuan to beat the Azerbaijan pair of Agil Gabilov and Era Maftuha 21-18, 21-17 in the mixed doubles final.
The Ugandan pair of Fadilah Shamika Mohamed Rafi and Tracy Naluwooza could only manage to win silver medals when they lost 21-5, 21-11 to Gayatri Rawat and Mansa Rawat (India) in the lop-sided women's doubles final.
Simon Mugabi, the Chief Executive Officer of the Uganda Badminton Association (UBA) thanked all the players who managed to grace the tournament which is sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). "We are always very grateful when we have several foreign players coming to Uganda to play in our different tournaments because it also helps our local players improve," added Mugabi.
The tournament attracted players from Uganda, Azerbaijan, Scotland, Malaysia, India, UAE, Italy, Maldives and Malta among others. ■
