CUTTACK: After successfully organising its first Badminton World Federation (BWF) event, the Odisha Open 2022, the Odisha government is going to make the tournament an annual event, officials said here on Sunday.
The Odisha Open 2022, which commenced on January 25, concluded at Cuttack’s Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium.
Sports and Youth Services Secretary, Odisha government, R Vineel Krishna, said: “Odisha has big plans for the development of the sport of badminton and Odisha Open 2022 has encouraged and inspired us. It will be an annual event and next year we hope to host it at a larger scale.”
This is the first time Odisha hosted an international badminton tournament and it is a matter of great pride as badminton is amongst priority sports for us, he noted.
“Over the last few days we have seen some brilliant performances from the young shuttlers and it shows that the future of badminton is in good hands. I congratula’e each and every winner and wish the very best to all the players of this tournament for their journey ahead,” he added.
The Sports secretary thanked the Badminton Association of India (BAI), Badminton World Federation (BWF), and Odisha State Badminton Association for bringing this tournament to Odisha.
“The tournament witnessed great badminton action and the infrastructure here is par excellence. More so, a 14-year-old Indian shuttler winning the gold among others is not only great news but also a great advertisement for the growing footprint of the sport in the country. I am confident in the coming time more badminton events can be staged here,” said Ajay K Singhania, general secretary, BAI.
Puneet Dalmia, managing director, Dalmia Bharat Ltd (official sponsor), said: “Evidently, the event has set new benchmarks not just in the arena of Badminton, but within the entire sports fraternity across India. Regionally, the tournament has woven itself into Odisha’s cultural ethos and we now look forward to taking it to greater heights in its next edition.”
On behalf of the State government, the Sports secretary felicitated officials who contributed to the successful completion of Odisha Open 2022.
Unnati Hooda clinches her 1st intl crown, Kiran George is men’s champion
Unnati Hooda and Kiran George registered contrasting victories to clinch the women’s and men’s singles title respectively in the Odisha Open Super 100 badminton tournament in Cuttack on Sunday.
Giant killer Hooda defeated Smit Toshniwal 21-18, 21-11 in just 35 minutes in the women’s singles final while Kiran got the better of Priyanshu Rajawat 21-15, 14-21, 21-18 in 58 minutes in the men’s category to end the three-event Indian leg in style.
Hooda, who was playing her second successive final on the senior national tour, was a big jittery at the start and conceded a sizable lead to Toshniwal in the opening game. But once the 14-year-old found her nerves, she began pushing her opponent to play longer rallies and slowly but surely clawed her way back.
She also employed the half smashes quite effectively to score points to pocket the opening game after taking the lead for the first time at 18-17. Hooda was the dominant player through-out the second game as she raced to a 17-4 lead. The youngster was guilty of dropping easy points from there on but the result was a foregone conclusion by then.
Later, Kiran had to dig deep into his physical and mental reserves to beat Rajawat in a summit clash that swung both ways till the very end.
In the double’s category, Treesa Jolly failed to grab the double crown as she won the women’s doubles title but ended on the losing side in mixed doubles.
Syed Modi International finalist, Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, defeated compatriots Shruti Mishra 21-12, 21-10. Earlier, Jolly and MR Arjun had gone down 16-21, 20-22 against Sri Lanka’s Sachin Dias and Thilini Hendahewa in the mixed doubles final.
In the men’s doubles final, Indian combination of PS Ravikrishna and Udayakumar Shankar Prasad could not build on their first game heroics and went down 18-21, 21-14, 21-16 against Malaysia’s Nur Mohd Azriyn and Khim Wah Lim.
