Local Badminton players played hard and fair in the Rangers Sports Badminton Tournament organised to raise funds for the Royal Berkshire Hospital Charity.
The tournament, played at Loddon Valley leisure centre, attracted a lot of badminton enthusiasts from the local community and beyond with over 100 participants and many members of the public turning up to enjoy a morning filled with plenty of exciting badminton and much more.
This year’s edition of the tournament invited participation in the mixed doubles category on top of the men’s doubles, which was a welcome sight for players and spectators alike.
For the Men’s doubles, the teams were divided in eight groups of five teams each. After series of group games , the top two teams from each group qualified for the for the next round to play in the “Champions Cup”. While most shuttlers were pleased with their performance in their four group games, only remaining sixteen teams went on to play in the pre-quarterfinals which produced eight quarter-finalists which were then down to the four Semi Finalist for the “Champions Cup”.
All three finals were very close games, which meant the spectators were on the edge of their seats until the very last moment. The pair of Vinay/George came victorious in the Champions Cup Final , Vikas/Suneet lifted the Rangers Cup and Ravi/Satvika were the deserving champions in the mixed doubles category.
While the event found its champions there were more winners in the presentation ceremony. The Royal Berkshire Raffle sale resulted in raising over £150 and with over 20 raffle prizes (which included an Organic Papaya!) it was worth every penny donated.
By Ankush Kapoor
