City lads take top spots in state badminton championship

Ludhiana: Two shuttlers from Ludhiana have clinched the first and the third spot in the under-13 singles category of the Punjab State Sub-Junior Badminton Championship.

While

Lakshay Sharma

(11) was first, Arnam Jain (12) was third in the championship. The duo was the first runners-up in the under-13 doubles category.

The championship ended in

Jalandhar

on Sunday. Lakshay has also bagged the second runners-up trophy in the under-15 singles of the championship. To lift the under-13 trophy, Lakshay beat Abhinav Thakur of Jalandhar by 21-17 and 21-19. In the under-15 match, Jeevansh beat Lakshay by 21-18, 21-18. In doubles, the duo lost to Abhinav Thakur and Ankit Soni by 22-20, 18-21, 15-21.

Lakshay has qualified for the upcoming National Sub Junior Badminton Championship to be held in December at Vishakhapatnam. Their coach, Mangat Sharma, said, "At this age, both Lakshay and Arnam are giving a tough time to their senior players. They play in the upper age categories also," he said.

In December, Lakshay had won the north zone round of national junior badminton championship organized in Chandigarh by the

Badminton Association of India

.

The Ludhiana lad also won in his category at the 4th International Swiss Youth Open Badminton Tournament in

Switzerland

in May 2015. Arnam's achievements include a silver trophy in the 4th International Swiss Youth Open Badminton Tournament-2015, runners-up trophy in Punjab Sub-Junior Badminton Championship last year, and a winner's trophy in the doubles category in the open state badminton championship in 2013.