Vietnamese LE Duc Phat wins Lagos International Badminton Classics
By Ifeanyi Eduzor
The 7th edition of the annual Lagos International Badminton Classics which served off Wednesday August , 28, 2024 at the Molade Okoya Thomas Sports Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos came to a successful end Saturday with LE Duc Phat of Vietnam emerging winner of the men’s singles event.
The Vietnamese who from the beginning of the competition left no one in doubt about his determination to win the biggest price money badminton championship in Africa had to combine experience, determination and good serves to overcome his Indian opponent, Samarveer by 3-1 of 21-10,18- 21 and 22-20 to be crowned champion of the tournament.
Speaking shortly after the keenly contested finals, the champion while acknowledging that his opponent gave him a run for his money posited that he prepared well ahead of the competition and played the game with determination and caution
” I must have to commend my opponent for giving me a very good fight which helped in bringing out the best in me. I also give kudos to the organisers of the Classics for their perfect organisation and hospitality since our arrival which brought out the best in us.
” I’ll say that my victory today was made possible through hard work, determination and good preparation and I hope to continue building on this success to further develop my game.
In his own remarks, President of Badminton Federation of Nigeria , Francis Orbi stated that although Nigerians did not win the prize money at stake, their performance is a great improvement from previous editions.
“I’m highly excited with the successful hosting of this year’s tournament and the performance of our players. Although they did not make podium finish but they made remarkable improvement in the game.
” When you look at the history of this Classics, you’ll discover that apart from the first edition when we didn’t have many foreigners playing in some of the Doubles event, it was more or less a Nigerian affair but shortly, they started showing interest and Nigeria couldn’t withstand them.
” But this year, we had a Nigerian lady that got to the women Singles semi-finals, our Mixed Doubles also got to the semi-finals just as our men and women who participated in the Doubles event also played in the semi-finals. AlsO for the second time Anuoluwapo Opeyori got to the quarter-finals and we hope he’ll get better next year. So comparatively, we did well.
” The Classics also offers Nigerian players who hitherto cannot travel out for tournaments the opportunity to play with some of the Highest ranked players in the world and from their gain
experience and composure”, Orbih stressed
Meanwhile in the Women Singles final which was an all Indian affair, Lele Shyreya defeated Solvam Kavipriya by 2-0 of 21-11, 21-16 to emerge winner while in the Women’s Doubles, Selvam Kavipriya and Singhi Simran recorded a 21-11, 21-16 victory over Khadkelar Vaishanavi and Khan Alisha.
Also in the men’s Doubles, Krishnamurthy Roy Pruthvi and Panjala Vishnuvardhan defeated the duo of Ravikrishna PS and Shetty Akshan by two straight sets of 21-17 and 21-19 just as Kanapuram Sathwik Reddy and Khadkekar Vaishanavi recorded a 21-12 and 21-14 victory over Nigerian duo of Shehu Aliyu and Ukeh Uchechukwu Deborah.
