Indian shuttlers Sankar Muthusamy, Samayara Panwar win Iran Junior International Series singles titles

Indian shuttlers Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian and Samayara Panwar emerged as champions at the Iran Junior International Series 2022 in Shiraz, Iran, on Friday.

The Junior International Series was organized by the Badminton Federation of Iran under the auspices of Badminton World Federation.

Muthusamy Subramanian bagged the Under-19 boys’ singles title, while Panwar pocketed the Under-19 girls’ singles crown. Both the Indian shuttlers defeated Iran players in their respective finals.

Samayara was in line to grab the double crown, but she lost in the Under-19 girls doubles final.

Top seed Sankar downed Ali Hayati of Iran 21-17, 21-17 in a final that lasted 31 minutes. He faced stiff competition from the local player in both games. However, the Tamil Nadu teenager displayed a wonderful all-round performance to quell the spirited challenge from Hayati.

Earlier in the semifinals on Thursday, he got the better of Hajmalek Amir Mohammad of Iran 21-9, 21-6 in just 24 minutes.

Muthusamy Subramanian on the podium in Iran on Friday. (Picture: Subramanian Muthusamy)

Second junior international title for Sankar

The Indian shuttler did no harm to his growing reputation by claiming the second junior international title.

The 18-year-old shuttler won his maiden international title when he triumphed at the Junior White Nights tournament in Russia last year. He did well in the senior category too by finishing as runner-up at the Uganda International tournament in 2021.

“I am very happy to win the title today. It was my second international title. The final match against the Iran player was a well-contested one. I did well to finish it off in straight games. I hope to maintain my good form in the next tournaments,” said the youngster while talking to Sportskeeda.

He trains at the Fireball Badminton Academy in Chennai. The upcoming teenager also played in the Premier Badminton League in 2020.

Samayara Panwar beat Ferdous Foroughi of Iran 21-14, 21-15 in the Under-19 girls singles final. (Picture: Subramanian Muthusamy)

Samayara Panwar misses double crown with a whisker

Samayara Panwar dominated the girls’ competition. The talented Indian shuttler won the singles title and finished runner-up in the doubles.

The World No. 334 outclassed Ferdous Foroughi of Iran 21-14, 21-15 in the Under-19 girls’ singles summit clash. Samayara dominated the 24-minute duration final to stamp her authority in style. It was the maiden international title for the 16-year-old, who is a member of the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy.

The promising shuttler reached the final at the Guatemala International Series tournament last year. However, in the Under-19 girls doubles, Uttar Pradesh’s Samayara had to be satisfied with the runners-up position. Samayara and Armenia’s Elen Tiraturyan were beaten in the final by Iranian pair Ferdous Foroughi and Mobina Nedaei.

Hosts Ferdous Foroughi and Mobina Nedaei defeated Samayara and Elen Tiraturyan of Armenia 21-15, 21-13 in a summit clash which lasted 27 minutes.

In the Under-19 girls’ doubles semifinal, Samayara and Elen Tiraturyan of Armenia thumped local pair Maryam Esmaeili Tabar and Fatemeh Zakeri 21-11, 21-14 in just 20 minutes.

Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian’s road to triumph

First round: 1-Sankar gets a bye

Second round: 1-Sankar bt Yousif M Khudhur (Iraq) 21-7, 21-6 (17 minutes)

Quarterfinal: 1-Sankar bt Farhan Javidi (Iran) 21-10, 21-8 (19 minutes)

Semifinal: 1-Sankar bt Hajmalek Amirmohammad (Iran) 21-9, 21-6 (24 minutes)

Final: 1-Sankar bt Ali Hayati (Iran) 21-17, 21-17 (31 minutes)

Samayara Panwar’s road to triumph

First round: Samayara bt Mobina Nedaei (Iran) 21-12, 21-9 (27 minutes)

Second round: Samayara bt Maryam Sadat Ahmadizadeh (Iran) 21-7, 21-4 (15 minutes)

Quarterfinal: Samayara bt Fatemeh Mouneskhah (Iran) 21-13, 18-21, 21-16 (42 minutes)

Semifinal: Samayara bt Maryam Esmaeili Tabar (Iran) 21-9, 21-9 (18 minutes)

Final: Samayara bt Ferdous Foroughi (Iran) 21-14, 21-15 (24 minutes).