What’s the story?
World No. 106, Subhankar Dey, won the BWF circuit last week as he captured the $8,000 Portuguese International at Caldas da Rainha, Portugal on Sunday. Dey, seeded fifth, got the better of the fourth seed Victor Svendsen, 21-19, 21-19 in the summit clash of this International Series event, in a match that lasted 42 minutes.
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This is the fifth international title for Subhankar Dey and the second of the year. He had triumphed at the Iceland International earlier in January where he shocked both the top seed Kim Bruun and the second seed Kalle Koljonen.
At the German Open Grand Prix Gold this month, Dey won against the much higher-ranked Chinese shuttler, Zhao Junpeng in three games. The win helped him jump 13 spots to reach his current ranking of 106.
The heart of the matter
Dey, who reached a career-high ranking of 71 in 2014, did not have it easy all along. He was made to work hard by the eighth seed Gergely Krausz in the semi-finals.
The Hungarian took the first game and looked very much in control until Dey held his nerves and eked out a 19-21, 21-16, 21-18 win in 1 hour 1 minute. That was the only match throughout the tournament where he conceded a game.
In the final, he avenged the defeat he had suffered at the hands of Victor Svendsen at the Austrian Open in February.
What’s next?
Dey, who has been based in Denmark for the past one year, has now set his eyes on the higher category of tournaments. This week he will be in action at the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold where he begins his campaign against World No. 261 Alexander Roovers of Germany.
Author’s Take
Subhankar Dey’s success is another indication that badminton is not just limited to Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu anymore. The sport is growing and flourishing thanks to good coaching and infrastructure.
Also Read: Swiss Open Badminton: HS Prannoy faces tough road to title defence
A look at the current men’s singles rankings corroborates it further. 11 Indians find themselves in the top 100, signalling an even brighter future. If the likes of Subhankar Dey can continue being consistent, they can definitely make an impact on the elite tournaments as well and push Indian badminton to greater heights.
