KUWAIT CITY, Nov 10: Indian Badminton Association in Kuwait (IBAK) took the top honors in the IBAK Inter-School Championship held over the Eid Al-Adha holidays after fielding a team of students from all those schools which could not field separate teams due to prior commitments. The tournament, which was held at the IBAK Gym in Salwa, saw the IBAK team emerge overall champions while the IES (Bhavan's) were the runners-up in the competition but they were given a tough fight by the FAIPS school( DPS), Carmel School and Indian Central School. The successful inter-school tournament IBAK saw the participation of over 100 students drawn from various schools of Kuwait and was another first for IBAK as no other badminton organization had so far arranged such an event in the country.

After organizing many successful adult tournaments and two successive coaching modules, IBAK recently shifted its attention to organizing an age-group event for young students from various schools so that they could be provided an opportunity to showcase their talents.
The event, which was held over a 3-day period, attracted over 100 participants and the IBAK gym was a sight to behold as it was soon bristling with activity.
Right from day one, there was intense event being held in the following categories: boys – under-19, under-15, under-13 and under-10 and for the girls the event was limited under-19 and under-13.While the event was very well organized, the competition was tough with a lot of tears flowing, both of joy and frustration.

The students drew a lot of support from their parents, coaches, well-wishers and friends. The camaraderie was a sight to behold with new friendships being formed and old ones re-affirmed.
The organizers, led by IBAK President Dr Manimara Chozhan, said that the purpose was offering a platform to these young players to showcase their talents as well as provide them an avenue for bonding.
After it was discovered that some of the schools could not, due to other commitments and scheduling, send their teams to take part in the tournament, IBAK decided to absorb the students into a single team under their own banner.
By taking this step, IBAK was able to ensure that all the children who had registered for the event could participate in the competition. To ensure that these children did not have to go out for things to eat, IBAK provided free snacks and drinks to not only all the participants but also to those people who accompanied them to the gym.

The competition drew a large entry, with the organizers decision to charge no fee from the entrants playing an important part in ensuring the success of the tournament .
In keeping with the spirit of competition and requests by the participants, IBAK also organized an Open doubles competition for boys in two categories – under-19 and under-15 pooled and under-13 and under 10 pooled) – making it a handicap event while the girls had a single category of players drawn from across the various age groups.
After the success of this event, the organizers have decided that the tournament will be an annual affair and the overall trophies would be ever-rolling.
All the coaches and parents expressed their thanks and congratulations to IBAK for conducting such an excellent tournament in a thoroughly professional manner. Credit for all this must go to the IBAK committee, who along with some dedicated IBAK members, worked hard to make the event a grand success.

The following IBAK members deserve special mention for their contribution: Ajaykumar Vasudevan (Back-office); Baburaj Parakkal, Subramoniam P., Tom Jacob, Lekha, Stephen and George (Match officials); Laila Saju, Shaina Ajaykumar and Umamahesari Manimaran (Catering); Vidya Satish (Photography) and all the hardworking IBAK committee members.
IBAK thanks all the participants, coaches, parents and supporters as well as the schools – who were officially represented in the event – for their co-operation and involvement. IBAK also promises to continue delivering quality tournaments for the badminton enthusiasts in Kuwait.
Coming back to the tournament proper, the overall championship was taken by the IBAK squad after they compiled 73 points and finishing second were IES (Bhavan's) with 28 points. In third place were DPS with 16 points, followed in 4th place Carmel School with 9 points and in last place were ICS with 6 points.

In the Under-19 Boys Singles, Raja Durai (IBAK) took the crown by beating Somesh Daga (IBAK) 21-16, 21-11. Earlier, in the semifinal, Raja Durai outclassed Jovin 21-14, 21-17 while Somesh Daga overcame Joyar 21-19, 7-21, 21-12.
The Under-15 Boys Singles saw Rishan Rai (DPS) edge past Shyam Sunder (Bhavans) 23-21, 21-16 to take the title.In the semifinals, Rishan Rai had outclassed Hemachandran 21-10, 21-14 while Shyam Sunder had crushed Ashlin D’Souza 21-15, 21-8.
In the quarter-finals of the same event, Shyam Sunder had outlasted Surya Rajasekhar 15-9, 13-15, 15-13 while Rishan Rai crushed Parth Gupta 15-4, 15-5; Hemachandran thrashed Akhil Krishnan 15-8, 15-9; and Ashlin D’Souza demolished Gokul Jayaplan 15-5, 15-7.
The crown of the Under-13 Boys Singles was taken by Anirudth of Bhavans when he beat Nithin Subramoniam (IBAK) 21-18, 21-11 in the finals.

To reach the finals, Nithin Subramoniam had scored an easy 21-13, 21-11 victory over Ansily D’Sousa while Anirudth had also found things easy in his semifinals when he defeated Sai Krishnan 21-12, 21-16.
In the quarter-finals of the same event, Nithin Subramoniam was in great form to crush Mohammed Farook 15-5, 15-1 while Sai Krishnan had thrashed Nithin Prince 15-7, 15-12; Anirudh had also found things easy when he routed Rohan Philip 15-1, 15-2; and Ansily D’Sousa had completed the semifinal lineup by sailing past Paul Abi with a 15-10, 15-3 win.
The Under-10 Boys Singles saw Sayooj Ajayakumar of IBAK clinch the championship when he beat Mohammed Azeem, also from the IBAK squad.
Sayooj Ajayakumar had reached the finals by displaying great form in the semifinal in which he did not have to break sweat to thrash Rithik Memon 21-6, 21-5 while Mohammed Azeem had to fight for every point before he could overcome Sanketh 21-15, 12-21, 23-22.
In the Under-19 Girls Singles, Neha Sathish of IBAK emerged the champion after showing a lot of class to score an easy 21-14, 21-12 victory over Sue Allen D’Souza of Carmel School.


Both the finalists had faced some tough opposition earlier in their semifinals with Neha Sathish overcoming Ilene D’Costa 23-21, 21-9 and Sue Allen D’Souza fighting hard to beat Swetha Thomas 21-11, 21-18.
The Under-13 Girls Singles event saw Nivedha Manimaran (IBAK) show a lot of class in the final for a 21-10, 21-5 victory over Sara Aafrin, also from IBAK to clinch the title.
Earlier, in the semifinals both the finalists had found the going easy against their opponents with Nivedha Manimaran thrashing Sheryl 21-12, 21-5 while Sara Aafrin took Niyathi to task with a 21-10, 21-9 victory.
The quarter-finals of this category were also hotly contested, although most of them seemed one-sided. In these matches Aaafrin found it easy to beat Chinna 15-4, 15-5 while Nivedha Manimaran was in excellent form to crush Persis Sarosh 15-3, 15-0; Sheryl found the going tough in the first set before she routed Niveditha Karam in the next two to win 10-15, 15-9, 15-8; and Niyathi defeated Pearlene Sarosh 15-4, 14-16, 15-6.

The finals of the Under-19 Boys Doubles was hotly contested before Rishan Rai and Ashlin D’Souza overcame Shyam and Surya 21-17, 21-14 to clinch the championship.
In the semifinals of this category, Shyam and Surya faced some tough opponents but they showed a lot of class to win 21-13, 22-23, 21-17 against Somesh Daga and Eric James while Rishan Rai and Ashlin D’Souza had an easy time and showed that they were championship material in their easy 21-7, 21-5 victory over Vineeth and Hemachandran.
Earlier in the quarter-finals, Shyam and Surya overcame Jovin and Purtha 21-16, 23-21 while Somesh Daga and Eric James were stretched to the limit before they overcame Joyar and Gokul 22-20, 12-21, 21-18; Nineeth and Hemachandran were awarded a bye into the semifinals; and Rishan and Ashlin D’Souza fought hard in the first set before they thrashed Raja Durai and Aneesh Petra in the second to win 21-19, 21-8.

In the Under19 Girls Doubles, the day belonged to Swetha Thomas and Bhagya Ratna as they took the crown in this category with an excellent display when they crushed Ilene D’Costa and Niveda.
Earlier, in the semifinals, both the finalists had put in an excellent performance as they were involved in really tough matches before they could move to the final round. Ilene D’Costa and Niveda were taken right down to the wire by Sue D’Souza and Sara Aafrin before they won 21-18, 21-18 while Swetha Thomas and Bhagya Ratna faced even tougher opposition in the form of Neha Sathish and Pooja Dhami but they held their nerves to win 21-16, 18-21, 21-11.
In the finals of the Under-13 Boys Doubles, Nithin Subramoniam and Kishore took the top honors when they beat Steve and Danish in the finals of the championship.
In the earlier matches, Nithin Subramoniam and Kishore overcame Anirudh and Darshan 6-15, 15-12, 15-13 to move directly into the finals. In the other games, Steve and Danish beat Gauraw and Sanju 7-15, 15-13, 15-11 while Sayouj and Azeem overcame Hitesh and Kevin 15-11, 8-15, 17-16.
Steve and Danish then faced Sayouj and Azeem with the former pair taking the match to move into the finals.