Mumbai shuttlers Simran Singhi, Akshan Shetty shine in Lagos

Women`s singles champion Simran Singhi

Mumbai shuttlers Simran Singhi and Akshan Shetty were among the Indian badminton players, who excelled at the Lagos International Classic 2024 tournament, organised by Badminton Confederation of Africa in the Nigerian city recently.

Four out of the five titles at the four-day event were won by Indians.

Men's doubles gold medallists Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala (centre) and Pruthvi Krishmamurthy Roy (3rd from left) with silver medallists Akshan Shetty (second from left) and PS Ravikrishna (left)

In the women's singles and doubles finals, which were both all-Indian affairs, Shreya Lele beat Kavipriya Selvam 21-11, 21-16 while the pair of Simran Singhi and Kavipriya Selvam stunned their top-seeded compatriots Vaishnavi Khadekar and Alisha Khan 21-11, 21-16.

In the men's doubles final, which also had all four Indians in action, the second-seeded pair of Shetty and his partner PS Ravikrishna went down fighting 17-21, 19-21 to Pruthvi Krishmamurthy Roy and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala.

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The mixed doubles final saw India's Sathwik Reddy Kanapuram and Vaishnavi Khadekar beat Nigerians Alhaji Aliyu Shehu and Uchechukwu Deborah (Nigeria) 21-12, 21-14. The only title the Indians missed out on was the men's singles, where Samarveer lost a close affair to top seed Le Duc Phat of Vietnam 10-21, 21-18, 20-22.

Kandivli residents Simran and Akshan said they were thrilled to be a part of such a dominant Indian contingent. "The competition was tough. There were quite a few good players from Vietnam and France besides hosts Nigeria, who enjoyed some massive crowd support," Shetty told mid-day.com. "The experience of playing and winning an international medal is always special. It's what we train hard for," added Shetty, who trains at the Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad.