Young Trainees excel in Israel Junior International | Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy

Rahul Bharadwaj of Karnataka, a trainee at PPBA won his maiden international title in the under 13 Boy’s Singles category of the Israel Junior International Badminton Championships which concluded yesterday at Rishon le Zio near Tel Aviv. Rahul beat Academy mate Karthikey in a close three setter 18-21, 21-16, 21-12. It is noteworthy that both Rahul and Karthikey beat players from China and Denmark in their quarter and semi-final matches.

Rahul topped his group and beat top seed Fang Kai of China 23-21, 21-15 in the last 8. He then beat third seeded Mads Thogersen of Denmark 21-18, 21-18 to reach the final. Karthikey upset second seed Chen Chen Huang of China in the semis 21-19, 13-21, 21-13 to reach the finals.

Rahul and Karthikey combined to lift the Under 13 Boys’ Doubles title beating top seeds Chen Chen Huang and Fang Kai of China 21-18, 24-22.

Lakshya Sen of Uttarakhand who also trains at PPBA, Bangalore won a triple crown in the Under 11 Boys’ Category, easily winning his singles over Volodymyr Roshkov (Ukraine) 21-7, 21-10 and combining with Evaggelia Koronidou of Greece to win the Mixed Doubles and pairing with Raz Kishitzky of Israel to win the Doubles both in straight games.

This was the 4th edition of the International Junior Event in Israel and players from Denmark, China and many other top Badminton playing nations fielded their teams.

During the last six months, these players were sent to Indonesia and Singapore for training and competitions. A five member team from the academy will be travelling to Indonesia again in May to participate in another Junior International event in Surabaya

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