Bangladesh International Challenge badminton: Abhishek Saini wins men’s singles title

Indian badminton player Abhishek Saini won the men’s singles title at the Bangladesh International Challenge 2021 while compatriots Mehreen Riza and Arathi Sara Sunil were crowned the women’s doubles champions in Dhaka on Sunday.

The world no. 474, Abhishek Saini defeated compatriot Rithvik Kumar, ranked 808, 21-15, 21-18 in the final which lasted 34 minutes. This was Abhishek’s first title in an international tournament.

India had a clean sweep in the men’s singles, with Kartikey Kumar finishing third.

Interestingly, world No. 6 Lakshya Sen had won the men’s singles title in the 2019 edition of the tournament.

In the women’s doubles, Mehreen Riza and Arathi Sunil came through from the qualifiers and went on to upstage Malaysia’s Kasturi Radhakrishnan and Venosha Radhakrishnan 22-20, 21-12 in the final. The match lasted 26 minutes.

For Mehreen Riza, it was her second straight doubles win over the Malaysian pair, having defeated them at the Bahrain International Challenge Round of 16 in November.

India missed a top-place finish in the men’s doubles and mixed doubles, losing to Sri Lankan teams in both events.

Bokka Navaneeth and Srikrishna Podile lost to Sachin Dias and Buwaneka Goonethilleka 15-21, 9-21 in the men’s doubles final while Pratik Ranade and Akshaya Warang were beaten by Sachin Dias and Kavidi Sirimannage 15-21, 18-21 in the mixed doubles.

Isharani Baruah finished third in the women’s singles.