Aman Farogh Sanjay, Maisnam Meiraba qualify for main draw at Latvia International Badminton tournament

Modified Aug 27, 2021 17:37 IST

Maisnam Luwang Meiraba won four rounds to qualify for the main draw in Latvia on Friday

Aman Farogh Sanjay and Meiraba Luwang Maisnam qualified for the main draw at the Yonex Latvia International Future Series Badminton tournament in Jelgava on Friday.

The four-day tourney is being organized by the Latvian Badminton Federation under the auspices of Badminton World Federation (BWF).

In-form Aman Farogh Sanjay and Maisnam Meiraba went through a tough process of qualification to clinch a spot in the men’s singles 32-player main draw.

Buoyed by last week's Benin International tournament triumph, 21-year-old Aman carried on the momentum in Latvia to seal the berth in the main draw.

In the fourth and last qualifying round, Aman ousted Danila Gataullin of Norway 21-15, 21-19 to make the cut for the main draw.

Aman, who has now taken a major leap in the rankings and jumped to World No. 391, outclassed Lithuania's Danielius Berzanskis 21-11, 21-14 and Rene Leeman of Estonia 21-11, 21-16 on Thursday.

Winner of Benin International Aman will face Israel’s Netzer in the first round

After doing well in the last few days, Aman's real test will begin now. The talented southpaw will have to keep working hard in the main draw matches.

Aman will lock horns with Israel's May Bar Netzer, World No. 382, in the first round. Before winning the Benin title last Saturday, Aman was ranked a lowly 616 in the world.

Aman Farogh Sanjay continued his fine performance to seal a berth in the main draw

Meiraba Luwang Maisnam steamrolled Lithuania’s Vilius Bagdanavicius 21-12, 21-7 in the final qualifying round on Friday.

The Manipuri teenager had accounted for Estonia’s Hugo Themas (21-9, 21-3) and Gustavs Davids Brecs of Latvia (21-8, 21-4) in the earlier rounds.

Meiraba, perhaps the most talented Indian youngster, will face Enrico Baroni of Italy in the first round of the main draw later in the evening.

Sixteenth seed in qualifying, Astitva Kale made a promising start by thumping Estonia’s Rannar Zirk 21-16, 21-13. However, he was beaten by Ukraine’s Andrei Don 15-21, 14-21 in the next round and failed to qualify for the main draw.

India’s Kiran Kumar Mekala, World No. 280, will take on Kok Jing Hong of Malaysia in the first round. Kevin Arokia Walter, World No. 172, has a direct entry into the main draw and will meet Mads Juel Moller of Denmark in the opening round.

Shruthika Senthil will square off against fifth seed Clara Lassaux of Belgium in the first round. Shruthika is the lone Indian girl in the women’s singles category after several players withdrew at the last moment.