Badminton News: Meiraba Luwang Maisnam of Manipur hopes to make the squad for the Asian Games after winning the 2023 All India Senior Ranking Badminton Tournament in Bahadurgarh, Haryana on Tuesday.

In the final, he defeated Bharat Raghav 21-17, 21-12 to win his first title of the year.

“I may have to play another test event, but I am optimistic about my place in the team for the Asian Games,” said the former world junior number 1.

Besides Asiad, Meiraba Luwang is also aiming for the Sudirman Cup which is due to take place from May 14 to 21 in China.

Regardless of what major events are about to happen, the 20-year-old just wants to enjoy the moment. After all, it was quite a big win in his short career and it will definitely help him improve in the days to come.

What made his win even bigger was that it was the sixth tournament he had entered since making the senior national team in March. In the domestic match, he gave Kidambi Srikanth a hard time in the second half before losing 19-21, 21-18, 17-21 in a game that lasted just over an hour.

After that he took a short break of four to five days and then he jumped, jumped and jumped around the world competing in the Thailand International Challenge, China Masters, Swiss Open, Madrid Spain Masters and Orleans Masters In France.

He then returned to India where he took part in the scoring meeting, but it was clear that it was quite a challenge. “It’s very difficult to play a tournament and then travel again,” added the youngster.

Speaking about the kinds of tests he faced during the tournament, he said: “The preliminary qualifying round was very difficult. The opponent was very tough and they played very well but I was still able to beat them.”

Meiraba Luwang, who is still training at Prakash Padukone Academy in Bengaluru, will now return home for some well-deserved rest, but he is fully aware that he needs to play even better to continue his good work.

Asked about the areas he has been working on over the past few months, Meiraba said, “I want to incorporate new things into my game and work on my skills. Right now I think I’m playing a bit faster than before and I’m also making new moves.

Hopefully all the hard work has finally paid off and he will make it to the Asian Games. But before that, he deserves some quality time at his home in Manipur.

Item Tag: Meiraba Luwang