Unseeded Aman Farogh Sanjay storms into Benin International badminton tournament final

Aman Farogh Sanjay stormed into the final of the Benin International Future Series Badminton tournament in Cotonou on Friday. The four-day tournament is being organized by the Badminton Confederation of Africa under the auspices of the Badminton World Federation.

Unseeded Aman Farogh Sanjay caused a couple of big upsets to seal his spot in the men’s singles summit clash. The talented shuttler is the only Indian participant in the tournament.

Southpaw Aman ousted Robert White of South Africa 21-18, 21-16 in the semifinals to reach his second final in the senior international tournaments. In 2019, the Thane youngster finished runner-up at the Kenya International tournament.

Unseeded Robert White stunned top seed and World No. 243 Camilo Borst of Germany 21-15, 21-18 in the first round on Thursday.

Aman will face fifth seed Dmitriy Panarin of Kazakhstan in the final

21-year-old Aman will clash with Dmitriy Panarin of Kazakhstan in the final on Saturday. Fifth seed Dmitriy Panarin surprised fourth seed Ruan Snyman of South Africa in the other semifinal.

Earlier in the day, World No. 616 Aman shocked sixth seed Robert Summers 21-18, 21-12 in 32 minutes. Aman started slowly but went on to dominate his higher-ranked opponent as the match progressed.

The same momentum was carried by Aman in the semi-final as well as he overpowered Robert White in straight games. Displaying his brilliant all-round game, Aman packed off his South African opponent in around half an hour.

On Thursday, Aman registered a couple of victories to start his campaign on a rousing note. Aman, the reigning Khelo India Youth Games champion, thrashed local player Josaphate Kognanou 21-16, 21-7 in just 14 minutes.

Later in the day, Aman toppled third seed Habeeb Temitope Bello 21-12, 21-17 in a hard-fought encounter that lasted 48 minutes. Nigeria’s Bello is ranked 258 in the world and quite an experienced player.

“I am happy to reach the final in two years. I would be much happier if I get the title tomorrow. It will be the first title of my career. I played both of my matches against the South African players today. They were very competitive. They were much more suited to the conditions and shuttles. I had to adapt to the conditions. I played some quality matches in the last two days,” said Aman.

Aman is finding it difficult to adjust to RSL shuttles

Aman was referring to the shuttles used in the tournament. He found it tough to handle the new brand of shuttles.

“They are using RSL shuttles in the tournament. Normally in India and most of the other international tournaments Yonex shuttles are used. I will have to be alert and quickly adjust to the conditions tomorrow against a strong Kazakhstan opponent,” said Aman.

Aman was No. 1 in India in the Under-19 boys singles and dominated the national junior circuit for two years. Head coach of the Thane Badminton Academy, Shrikant Vad, was pleased with his performance so far in Benin.

“Aman has done well so far. He will have to raise the bar tomorrow to emerge the winner. I have told him some methods to handle RSL shuttles. Hopefully he will deliver the goods on Saturday,” said Shrikant Vad.

An experienced coach from Maharashtra, Vad has mentored Aman since his sub-junior days.