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Anil Datt
Ludhiana, June 4
City-based badminton prodigy, Lakshay Sharma (13) has again hogged limelight at the international arena when he won gold medal in the singles category at the Youth International Badminton Championship at Glasgow, Scotland (UK), recently. This tournament is recognised by the Badminton Europe wherein the seeded players also take part.
Lakshay, a student of Class IX at Sacred Heart Convent School, Sarabha Nagar, has been performing consistently for the past couple of years. He has won a number of titles at the national as well as international-level tournaments.
There were 202 players (U-15) from around the globe who took part in this championship. In the final (singles), Lakshay overpowered his opponent, Oliver Butler from England, in straight sets 21-13, 21-8 to lay his hands on the winners’ trophy.
Lakshay competed in the doubles group also in this championship and paired with Mathew Cheung from Ireland. In doubles, too, Lakshay made his presence felt as the pair reached the final.
However, Lakshay and Mathew could not overcome the last hurdle as they lost to the pair of Oliver Butler and Ethane Hosken from England 17-21, 10-21.
Earlier, Lakshay won gold medal at Glasgow in 2017 in the U-13 category and besides silver medal in doubles in addition to bronze medal in mixed doubles group.
In 2015, Lakshay clinched gold medals in the U-11 category in the Swiss Youth Open Badminton Championship held in Switzerland where he came out triumphant in the singles and doubles categories. Lakshay, a trainee of his father, Mangat Rai Sharma, an NIS qualified coach, has many medals under his belt at the national-level competitions.
Lakshay’s outstanding achievement at Glasgow has earned him appreciations from Rajinder Singh Kalsi, secretary, Punjab Badminton Association; Sister Reshmi, Principal of Sacred Heart Convent School; Arun Dhand, former national and World Masters champion; and Mohinder Singh Grewal, president of District Badminton Association, Ludhiana.
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