Veteran Varghese and Shaheer hit top form

Abu Dhabi - Varghese is well known in the UAE for his passion for the sport and for his dedicated training.

Top seed Abdulla Shaheer overcame Dubai's Stefan Crasto 16-21, 21-18, 21-19 in the under 18 division of the 39th ISC UAE APEX Open Badminton Tournament at the India Social and Cultural Centre, Abu Dhabi, on Wednesday night.
In the final, Shaheer will meet Joshua Yap who tamed Sharjah's Rohan Jothish 21-14, 21-11.
Shaheer fought back brilliantly after being one set down against his younger opponent, and in the decider when trailing 14-19, he managed to rise to the occasion to pull off a stunning victory by scoring seven points in a row.
Also hitting the limelight the same night was veteran badminton player, administrator and BWF certified coach, James Varghese who entered two finals.
Varghese, who is well known in the UAE for his passion for the sport and for his dedicated training, progressed to the summit rounds of the masters and veteran's singles defeating Bobby Sebastian (21-14, 21-12) and Santhosh Kumar Gopi (21-17, 16-21, 21-17) respectively.
"I have been a regular participant in all the badminton tournaments conducted in the GCC for almost 20 years and have won several times in the men's and masters categories. This is the first time I am competing in a veteran's division (above 45 years) and am very glad to reach the finals," Varghese said.
The mixed doubles saw an interesting duel when Endi Madullah and Jeena Mathew upset former champions Asep Adriyana and Vivian Silva 5-21, 21-19, 21-16, keeping the crowd entertained till late night. Last year's men's doubles runner-up, Munais Mohammed, partnering newcomer Imam Adi Kusuma, set up another upset, defeating tournament favourites Dea Kornelius and Kornelius Mujiono 13-21, 21-18, 21-19 in a thrilling match in the men's doubles quarterfinals.
moni@khaleejtimes.com