In the wake of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s second French Open title in Paris, another Indian shuttler Devika Sihag emerged triumphant in Portugal. Devika, a teenage sensation claimed the women’s singles title at the 59 Portugal International Championships 2024 staged at Caldas da Rainha, Portugal recently. These triumphs augur well for the future of badminton in India.
Imagine the confidence level of a budding international star that despite being unseeded, Devika outplayed second seed Rachel Chan of Canada 21-16, 21-16 in a lop-sided high point clash. Eighteen-year-old Indian girl decimated her world No. 63 Canadian opponent to capture back-to-back titles in Europe. It was her third successive appearance in the final of the European season when she crossed swords with Chan and cut her to size in 37 minutes.
Earlier on January 21, Devika had commenced her triumphant international march by claiming the Swedish Open title. It was a big learning experience at the Estonia International where she could not cross the line to end as runners up, before successful stint at the Swedish Open.
World No. 174 Devika was in brilliant form throughout the week and shocked seventh seed Agnes Korosi of Hungary 21-11, 21-10 in the quarter final. The fast-rising Indian shuttler hardly broke any sweat while outclassing world No. 97 Hungarian.
However, Devika’s was stretched in the semis by Singapore’s Lee Xin Yi Megan. The promising qualifier had knocked out top seed Clara Azurmendi of Spain in the third round and was brimming with confidence. Devika, a trainee of Bengaluru-based Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA), overcame the mid-match slump to edge past Megan 21-12, 19-21, 21-10 in 54 minutes to storm into the final.
“I am feeling really happy by winning back-to-back titles. In all the three tournaments in Europe this season, I reached the finals and won two of them. I think it is the best phase of my career,” commented an elated Devika.
Ever since Devika joined the PPBA in 2021, her progress graph has been on rise,
She is the reigning national junior champion and represented the Indian team at the World School Games held at Normandy, France in 2022. She expressed her gratitude to the PPBA coaches for the amazing rise.
“I would like to give credit for my success to my parents, coaches and the entire support staff of PPBA. I want to maintain my good form for the rest of the season. I will now focus on the Dutch International Series this week,” added Devika.
One of the senior PPBA coaches Sagar Chopda was delighted to see Devika going from strength to strength. “It was another good consistent performance from Devika. It’s her second consecutive international title in Europe and third finals in a row. She had three good wins in this tournament. Hope she plays with the same confidence in the Dutch International Series this week,” said Chopda. The former international shuttler said they are planning to start sending Devika for bigger events once this circuit is over. The success of Devika and her compatriots on the international circuit augurs well for the future of the Indian badminton.
