In an epic final at the 6th Lagos International Badminton Classics, a 22-year-old Brazilian, Jonathan Matias, on Saturday, defeated Pablo Abian of Spain, to clinch the Men’s Single’s final title.
The final matches of the 6th Lagos International Badminton Classics were played at the Molade Okoya Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere.
The final between Matias and Abian was so tense that the Brazilian capitalising on a few mistakes by the Spaniard.
Matias who defeated Nigeria’s Anu Opeyori in the quarter-final enroute the final, in an interview with the media, said he was happy to win his first major international title.
“This title means a lot to me, this is my first time of winning an international classic tournament in my career.
“I love the atmosphere here and the fans didn’t bother me. I just focused on what I want to do and put everything behind.
“The hall was quiet in my mind as I was playing my game and wasn’t thinking about the crowd.
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“I worked hard and trained for this event and here I am as the champion. I hope to continue from this to other medals, especially at the Olympics,” he said.
Fabio Caponio of Italy and Dmtny Panarin of Kazakhstan were joint third.
For the Women’s Single, Ines Lucia Castilo-Salazar of Peru defeated Lauren Lam of USA for the title, while Rachel Darragh of Ireland and Juliana Vaiana Viera of Brazil were joint third.
In the Men’s Double, PS Ravikshra and Sankar Prasad Udayakumar of India defeated the duo of Algerian, Koceila Mammey and Youcef Sabri to emerge winners, while Nigeria’s Abduhamid Waheed Musa and Daniel Philip with Jose Guevara and Diego Mini of Peru were joint third.
For the Women’s Double, the duo of Sirran Singhi and Ritika Thaker of India walked over the USA duo of Lauren Lam and Paula Lynn, while the Indian duo of Rutaparma Panda and Swetapana Panda with Amy Ackerman and Deidre Laurens were joint third.
In the Mixed Doubles category, Jose Guevara and Ines Lucia Castilo of Peru defeated Mina Ivanocic and Petra Polanc of Slovenia to emerge winners, while Musa Morroh and Ramatu Yakubu alongside, Dinna Miri and Paula la Torre-Regal of Peru shared the third position.
The final had in attendance various dignitaries and stakeholders of the badminton in Nigeria in the likes of the Chairman of Lagos. State Sports Commission (LSSC), Mr Sola Aiyepeku, President of Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) Francis Orbih, among others.