After clinching a double gold in London recently, K.A. Aadirai struck the goldmine once again, winning the under-16 and 18 girls’ singles gold in the World Racketlon singles and team championship in the Netherlands earlier this week.
Aadirai showed grit and determination on her way to defending the under-16 girls’ singles crown. She got past her opponents with ease to make it to the final and went on to defeat Ylvie Zahn of Germany 21-9, 21-7, 21-10 for the title.
In the under-18 category, Aadirai, guided by Physical Director P.B. Muralikrishnan at the PSG Tech courts in Coimbatore, got the better of top seed Holly Ranson (Great Britain) and Chloe Delpont (France) to advance to the final. With her confidence on a high, the young girl humbled defending champion Bethany Pye (Great Britain) 21-16, 21-11, 21-17, 2-2 to complete a sweet double.
It was not an easy task for Aadirai to play both the singles and the team event. But she, along with her elder brother K.A. Aadith, gave their all for the India under-18 team which won the bronze.
Both Aadith and Aadirai were part of the three-member under-18 team. Since the third player could not make it to the Netherlands, the duo played with a handicap of starting each match 0-44 down.
“I knew the team event would be the most challenging this year as we were a player short and starting our matches –44 points. I knew every point will cost the team much but we gave our best,” said Aadirai, who was thrilled to have won the under-18 title.
“It was my maiden under-18 final but I was not under any pressure playing the defending champion. I must say it was my best performance in the World championship,” she said.
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