Hyderabad’s Samiya lifts Asian junior gold

Yangon: Close on the heels of Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu, yet another Hyderabad girl is hogging the limelight in women badminton. Samiya Imad Farooqui clinched the Under-15 women singles gold after defeating Indonesia's Widjaja Stephani at the Asian Junior Championship here on Sunday.

The third seeded Indian, who had reached the finals at Pembangunan Jaya Raya International Junior Grand Prix U-19 in April, defeated Stephani 15-21, 21-17, 21-19 in a 56-minute match to lay claim to the coveted title. Sindhu had won the gold in U-19 Asia Junior championship in 2012 at Gimcheon, South Korea.

Samiya found the going tough in the opening game as Stephani jumped to a 6-1 lead early on and kept distancing herself to grab it easily. However, the 14-year-old from Hyderabad made a roaring comeback in the second game, opening a 6-2 lead and then grabbing a 13-8 lead.

The Indonesian clawed back at 13-13 but Samiya managed to wriggle out and eventually forced the match into a decider. In the third game, Stephani and Samiya entered in a tooth and nail battle but the Indonesian managed to hold a 12-7 lead. Samiya however ensured that she did not go down without a fight and soon she clawed back to 16-16 and turned the tables eventually.

“I was nervous in the first game but regained confidence after some motivation from my coach and gave my opponent a tough fight,” the jubilant Samiya said after the marathon battle. “It was a tough match and went to the wire. But I held on to my nerves and won it. I am very proud to win a gold for my country,” she added.