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Indian shuttler Subhankar Dey, who won the bronze at the Senior National Championships in 2017, lived up to his top billing as he entered the final of the Kabal International in Karvina, Czech Republic on Saturday. The World No. 63 dropped the middle game but recovered in time to register a 21-12, 16-21, 21-17 win over Ukrainian qualifier Dmytro Zavadsky in a 53 minute battle in the semi-finals.
In the summit clash, the top seed will take on the third seed and World No. 75 Victor Svendsen. The Dane too did not have it easy in the semi-finals. He staved off a huge challenge from the eighth seeded Milan Ludik in the second game before completing a 21-13, 30-29 win in 44 minutes.
The two have met twice and have split their head-to-head record 1-1. Dey beat him in their last encounter on his way to winning the Portuguese International in 2017.
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After PV Sindhu’s narrow defeat to the World No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi in the semi-finals of the All England Open, Dey remains the only Indian on course to win a title this week.
The 24-year-old has been playing with a lot of confidence all through this week at this International Series tournament. In four matches, he has conceded a game only once.
Dey, who lives and trains in Copenhagen, came into the spotlight last year with a big upset win over the Singapore Open Superseries winner B Sai Praneeth, that paved the way for his bronze medal at the National Championships.
He also won an International Series title in Iceland, besides the aforementioned Portuguese International.
Other than Dey, none of the other Indians managed to make a mark at the Kabal International. Fifth seed Karan Rajan Rajarajan was upset 11-21, 19-21 by qualifier Ade Resky Dwicahyo in the first round.
Sahil Sipani and qualifier Adrian Goerge too could not cross the first hurdle. In women’s singles, Smit Toshniwal won a round before succumbing to a three-game defeat to the eighth seed Getter Saar. Ira Sharma lost to seventh seed Katerina Tomalova in the opener.
