At the recently concluded Maharashtra State Veterans Badminton Championship, 2024 hosted by Bombay Gymkhana veterans reaped a rich haul of the Gold Medals making Bombay Gymkhana glitter and showed the strength of their veterans at at the State Championship. Vice President, Naheed Divecha, and Hon. Badminton Secretary, Gautam Ashra treated themselves to a “Triple Crown” in the 50+ Women’s category and 65+ in Men’s category. Shailesh Daga won a “Double Crown” winning the Men’s Singles 55+ and Men’s Doubles 55+. Dr. Gautam Laud was a revelation at the just concluded event winning his first 50+ Men’s Singles and on his way to the finals beat the top seed Kiran Makode (Nagpur) in three pulsating and nerve-racking games. Ayaz Bilawala paired up with Shailesh Daga to continue their winning ways and trounced their oppositions in the Men’s Double 55+ category. Bombay Gymkhana hosted the tournament and players from all over the Districts of Maharashtra who attended and played at our courts went back with happy memories and were extremely satisfied with the playing conditions and the arrangements made at and by Bombay Gymkhana. Their veterans looked invincible every time they entered the badminton Court and were unstoppable in their categories. Besides the above, Naval Kumar, Amol Shah, Faizal Siddiqui and Ranjan also participated in the 55+ Men’s Doubles and the 45+ Men’s Doubles and lost in the quarter finals.
The Doubles combination of Ayaz Bilawala and Shailesh Daga steamrolled their opposition and have been unbeatable in the 45+ and 50+ Men’s Doubles category for more than a decade and won this year’s Men’s Doubles 55+ category without breaking a sweat. Gautam Ashra paired with Mahesh Aras and succeeded easily in the Men’s Doubles 65+ category and then Gautam Ashra went on to win the 65+ Men’s Singles in straight set and the 65+ Mixed Doubles category with Dr. Padmini Desai. Naheed Divecha has made it a habit to win the “Triple Crown” and has won it three times. At this tournament, she bulldozed her opponents in the Women’s Singles, Women’s Doubles (with Chaitrali Navare) and Mixed Doubles (with Kiran Makode) in the 50+ Women’s category. Shailesh Daga, who was unbeaten in the 50+ Men’s Singles carried on with his form to trounce his opponents in the 55+ Men’s Singles and won the finals against Murli Subramanian easily. Dr. Gautam Laud, who has been training regularly at our Courts and in the boot camp, this time proved to all that he is the best in the 50+ Men’s Singles event.
All in all, the tournament, which attracted almost 500 entries from all over the State of Maharashtra was a grand success. The final day function was attended to by Shrikant Vad, Hon. Secretary, Maharashtra Badminton Association. He alongwith Vice President, Hon. Badminton Secretary, Chief Referee Mr. Vishwas Deswandikar and Sachin Bharati, Hon. Secretary, GMBA give away the prizes to all the players. Sport Section comprising of Amin, Sudhir, Yash and Vijesh did a commendable job in conducting the entire tournament. Markers, Rajesh, Rajan, Chetan, Ajay and Sujit worked extremely hard to ensure that all the players were comfortable and the event a success. We wish all the best to the Winners for their success in the forthcoming Badminton Veterans Nationals to be held in March, 2024 at Panchkula, Chandigarh. (By Vikrant Rambhia)
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