Dhole-Bhagwat pair wins veteran national badminton title

Age is just a number for Jayendra Dhole. The experienced campaigner brought laurels to the city by emerging champion in the 40th Indian Masters (Veteran) National Badminton Championships at Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, on Friday.

Playing in the 35 plus men’s doubles category, Dhole and his partner Sameer Bhagwat of Pune overcame tough competition to clinch their maiden title. Incidentally, Dhole and Bhagwat played for the first time in the veteran nationals and they made it count by grabbing the crown.

In a well-contested summit clash, the fourth seeded pair of Dhole and Bhagwat outclassed seventh seeds Sunil Gladson and Abhinand Shetty of Karnataka 22-20, 21-19 in 30 minutes. Both the games were close but Dhole and Bhagwat kept their composure in the crunch situations to emerge triumphant.

Earlier in the day, Dhole and Bhagwat quelled the spirited challenge of unseeded P Kandavel and David Sundar Singh in a nail-biting semifinal.

It was a big scare for the Maharashtra pair against Tamil Nadu duo, who had the big crowd cheering behind them. After losing the opening game, Dhole-Bhagwat bounced back in style to beat the hosts duo 19-21, 21-14, 26-24 in 50 minutes.

Dhole competed in two other events too and did reasonably well. Dhole and his partner Prerana Joshi lost in the 35 plus mixed doubles event after entering the main draw through qualification. Dhole and Joshi lost to Sumi Joseph and A Imlirenla 16-21, 21-23 in the quarters.

In the 35 plus singles, fourth seeded Dhole went down fighting against Kaushik Rudra in three games in the Round of 16.

Dhole was ecstatic after his first title at the national-level. “It was always my dream to become national champion. I could not achieve it in the open category but I am glad I could do it in the veterans section. Contrary to the belief, there is lot of competition in the 35 plus group, particularly in the doubles. It was a very satisfying win for me,” a jubilant Dhole told PTI from Coimbatore.

The 38-year-old had lost in the final in 2013 at Mumbai in the 35 plus singles. “I was determined not to lose the final this time around. My partner Sameer is solid and we gelled well on the court. This year in the state veterans tournament, we had triumphed,” said Dhole.

Dhole-Bhagwat’s road to triumph

Round 1: Bt Parag Ekande-Vikrant Karanjkar 21-10, 21-11

Round 2: Bt Veera Swamy Narra-TVR Surya Rao 21-10, 21-11

Quarterfinal: Bt 8-K Senthil Velan-P Karthi 21-19, 21-19

Semifinal: Bt P Kandavel-David Sundar Singh 19-21, 21-14, 26-24.

Final: Bt 7-Sunil Gladson-Abhinand Shetty 22-20, 21-19.