Meiraba storms into Latvia International tournament semis; Aman goes down fighting in pre-quarters

Maisnam Meiraba stormed into the semi-finals of the Yonex Latvia International Future Series Badminton tournament in Jelgava on Saturday.

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

The penultimate day of the competition turned out to be a mixed one for the Indians. While qualifier Maisnam Meiraba clinched a place in the men's singles semi-finals, another qualifier, Aman Farogh Sanjay, went down fighting in the pre-quarters.

The third day completely belonged to Meiraba as the 18-year-old notched up two impressive victories to book a berth in the last four. The Manipur lad came from the brink of defeat to stun fifth seed Bernardo Atilano of Portugal 17-21, 22-20, 21-12 in 64 minutes.

Meiraba, a trainee at Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bengaluru, pulled off a dramatic three-game win against world No. 131 Portuguese after saving a match point in the second game.

Meiraba saved match point to upset fifth seed in pre-quarters

After losing the first game 17-21, Meiraba was down 19-20 in the second game. However Meiraba, the former World No. 2 in the Under-19 boys singles, reeled off three successive points to clinch the second game 22-20.

The decider was dominated by Meiraba as he steamrolled his higher-ranked opponent with a facile 21-12 win.

Within a couple of hours, Meiraba was once again on the court to play the quarter-final against Jan Louda. Meiraba displayed his extraordinary level of fitness to oust Jan Louda of the Czech Republic 21-19, 21-5.

Meiraba faced stiff resistance in the first game but he demolished world No. 157 Jan Louda as the match progressed to complete the win in 37 minutes.

Meiraba will now take on Kok Jing Hong of Malaysia in the semis on Saturday. The reigning national junior champion Meiraba has a 2-0 head-to-head record against Jing Hong Kok.

The Indian shuttler defeated the Malaysian player at the India Junior International in 2019. A year earlier, Meiraba had thumped Jing Hong Kok at the Badminton Asia Junior U-17 & U-15 Championships.

It was a heart-breaking loss for Aman Farogh Sanjay in the second round. The 21-year-old Thane southpaw Aman lost to Giovanni Toti of Italy 13-21, 21-11, 20-22 in 41 minutes.

Aman Farogh Sanjay lost to Giovanni Toti of Italy in three tough games on Saturday

Aman, winner of the Benin tournament last week, had his chances in the deciding third game but could not capitalize on them and lost narrowly.

Indian Results

Men’s singles

(Quarter-finals) Meiraba Luwang Maisnam bt Jan Louda (Czech Republic) 21-19, 21-5 (37 minutes).

(Pre-quarter-finals) Meiraba Luwang Maisnam bt 5-Bernardo Atilano (Portugal) 17-21, 22-20, 21-12 (64 minutes); Aman Farogh Sanjay lost to Giovanni Toti (Italy) 13-21, 21-11, 20-22 (41 minutes).

(First round) Meiraba Luwang Maisnam bt Enrico Baroni (Italy) 21-14, 21-13 (35 minutes); Aman Farogh Sanjay bt May Bar Netzer (Israel) 21-5, 21-16 (22 minutes); Kiran Kumar Mekala lost to Kok Jing Hong (Malaysia) 8-21, 9-21 (34 minutes); Kevin Arokia Walter lost to Mads Juel Moller (Denmark) 19-21, 21-14, 19-21 (65 minutes).

Women’s singles

(First round) Shruthika Senthil lost to 5-Clara Lassaux (Belgium) 6-21, 5-21 (15 minutes).