At the recently concluded 30th edition of the G. D. Birla Interclub Veterans Badminton Tournament, organised by Badminton 45 at Bombay Gymkhana courts and managed by Badminton Gurukul, the Bombay Gymkhana badminton fraternity rose to the occasion and brought home a slew of medals.
To begin, in the Elite Division, the Bombay Gymkhana ‘A’ Team, consisting of Ayaz Bilawala, Shailesh Daga, Faizal Siddiqui, Aditya Khansaheb, Dr. Gautam Lad, Jatin Agarwal, Sagar Chopra and Amol Shah, entered their 8th final and won (an interclub record) by a margin of 2/0 over the fancied Chembur Gymkhana Team. In the best of three finals, Shailesh Daga and Dr. Gautam Lad gave the Bombay Gymkhana ‘A’ Team an early lead by defeating their opponents in the 100+ combined category. In the second match in the 90+ combined group, Ayaz Bilawala and Sagar Chopda took charge and raced to an easy victory, beating the young Amey Joshi and P. M. Balakrishnan.
The Bombay Gymkhana ‘B’ Team lost in the qualifying league rounds and could not qualify for the Plate Division (teams who come second in the Group/League stage).
In the Plate Division, defending champions NSCI had a scintillating match but could not go past the onslaught from MCA Andheri Club and lost by a whisker in the 3rd and deciding tie and in its 3rd and deciding game 20/22 thereby giving the MCA Andheri Club the pole position and the Plate’s Cup.
In the Individual Events, Bombay Gymmers comprising of all National Champions Gautam Ashra, Naheed Divecha, Aparna Popat, Shailesh Daga and Ayaz Bilawala performed well by reaching the finals of all the events and winning the same. Naheed Divecha with Shailesh Daga won the Uni Doubles Event beating their own Gautam Ahsra and Ayaz Bilawala in the finals. Naheed then paired up with 9 times National champion Aparna Popat and vanquished their opponents in the Women’s Doubles 75+ event. Aparna Popat partnered Ayaz Bilawala in the Mixed Doubles 80+ event and played a tough nerve-racking semi-final match where they managed to win in 3 games against Sandeep Mohan and Kiran Shettye. That match had all the spectators stuck to their seats, Aparna and Ayaz eventually won in 3 games, tie score read 21/19 in the third game. In the finals, the fancied pairs, who were seeded 2nd beat the top seeded pair of Rajesh D’Souza and Naheed Divecha in straight sets.
In the Men’s Doubles 45+, the famed duo of Shailesh Daga and Ayaz Bilawala (who had reached their tenth consecutive Men’s Doubles 45+ final) faced two ex-international stars, Mangirish Palekar and Vikrant Patwardhan, and were defeated in two sets. Shailesh and Ayaz, on the other hand, achieved the distinction of reaching their tenth consecutive finals (an event record) and were awarded a Special Prize by Badminton Gurukul.
Shailesh Daga, current Men’s National 50+ Singles Champion, continued his impressive form by winning the Men’s Doubles +110 event with Rajesh D’Souza (Catholic Gymkhana). They were given a scare by Bombay Gymkhana players, Gautam Ashra and Dr. Gautam Laud, who forced them to play three games in the semifinals. In the finals, Shailesh and Rajesh easily defeated their opponents and won the championship.
In the Men’s solo 45+, Bombay Gym’s Rajan Samant (Marker) played a entertaining solo match against Nikhil Chari. Rajan fought back from 14-18 down in the 2nd game after losing the 1st and went on to win 25/23, he proceeded winning the third and the newly sought late Aditya Birla Men’s Singles 45+ trophy.
Namita Thakkar of the MCA Club in Bandra won the debut and newly introduced Women’s Singles 45+ event Trophy.
In the Men’s Doubles 85+, previous year’s finalists Mangirish Palekar and Deepak Jetley defeated Abhidnya Sawant and Rajesh Bhanushali in three games to win the title.
The G. D. Birla Interclub Veterans Badminton Tournament has grown exponentially and has become a famous brand closely associated with Bombay Gymkhana. The host Badminton 45 Trust had a special guest over and had invited the present International and Ex-World No.1 Srikanth Kidambi, who graciously attended Bombay Gymkhana courts on Saturday, 11th May, 2024. He played exhibition matches with other players. The badminton lovers, who attended were simply enthralled with the fluid and ease in the movement and grace of Srikanth Kidambi.
Aditya Birla family has at all times supported the event, which was started by late Aditya Birla and their commitment to ensuring the tournaments success remain unwavering. This year Union Bank of India also came forward to be a co-sponsor. Tournament had 31 clubs participating in the Interclub Team Event and had almost 325 participants competing in the coveted veteran titles.
(By Ayaz Bilawala and Vikrant Rambhia)
