“Indian badminton players have given their best at the All England Badminton Championships! Gayatri Gopichand, Treesa Jolly, and Lakshya Sen are the names you must know. They may not have clinched the medals but they surely inspired,” said Scorch.
“Tell us more, Scorch. Also, what is the All England Badminton Championships,” asked Verum.
“You’ll be surprised to know that the All England Open Badminton Championships is the world’s oldest badminton tournament. It is held yearly in England.
Jolly and Gopichand gave a tough fight to their opponents but sadly, were defeated by Shu Xian Zhang and Yu Zheng in the women’s doubles event last Saturday,” said Scorch.
“That’s unfortunate. Every defeat is an opportunity to do better in the next game. What happened with Lakshya?” said Felix.
“Well, Sen is already known as the Indian badminton star. Rightly so, as he entered the semifinals to play against Malaysia’s Zii Jia Lee. He defeated Lee and became only the fifth Indian in men’s singles to reach the finals of the prestigious tournament.
He played against world number one Viktor Axelsen on Sunday. He won the silver,” stopped Scorch.
“Oh!” gasped Verum.
“Yes, it was a challenging fight. Sen clinched the silver medal and jumped into the top 10 of the latest badminton world ranking on Tuesday. He is placed at the ninth position with 74,786 points, surpassing the reigning world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore. Axelsen showered praises on the young Indian player for his excellent performance.
Oh! I totally forgot to mention that Jolly and Gopichand too jumped 12 places to reach world number 34. This is their career’s best ranking so far,” said Scorch.
“Indeed, it’s been a good week for India badminton players. It’s definitely an inspiring tale – cutting through the odds to reach the semis and finals. Kudos to our young achievers,” exclaimed Verum!