Anupama, Tharun wins Kazakhstan International Badminton title
Sport
4 min read
Promising young India badminton players Anupama Upadhyaya and M.Tharun won the women’s and men’s singles titles, respectively, at the 2024 Kazakhstan International Challenge tournament, held in Uralsk, Kazakhstan. The final was played on 6 April 2024.
The Kazakhstan International Challenge Tournament was organised by the Kazakhstan National Badminton Federation in Uralsk, Kazakhstan, from 2-6 April 2024.
Singles Title for Anupama and Tharun
Nineteen-year-old Anupama Upadhyaya, born in Almora, Uttarakhand, defeated fellow Indian Isharani Baruah 21-15, 21-16 in the final. For the World no. 70 ranked Anupama Upadhyaya, the Kazakhstan International Title, was her second consecutive international title in 2024 after her win at the Polish International Challenge 2024. In the Polish International Challenge, held in Warsaw, Poland, she defeated Tanya Hemanth of India to win the title.
Former Junior No.1 player Anupama Upadhyaya displayed tremendous skill and stamina to defeat tough opponents like Harshitaa Rout, Tereza Svabikova, Devika Sihag and Sorano Yoshikawa on her way to the final.
The emerging badminton player of India, Anupama Upadhyaya, has won the India International Challenge in 2021, the Polish Open (2022 and 2024) and the Tajikistan International Series in 2023.
In the men’s singles final, 22-year-old M.Tharun of Telangana won his first international title by defeating Soon Joo Ven of Malaysia 21-10, 21-19. M.Tharun was runner-up in the National Badminton Championship 2023, where he lost to Chirag Sen in the final.
M.Tharun reached the final by defeating competitors like Gagan Balyan, S Sankar Muthusamy, Dmitriy Panarin and Le Duc Phat.
However, in the mixed double, the Indian pair of Sanjai Srivatsa Dhanraj-Maneesha K lost to the Malaysian pair of Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien in the final.
Ranking of BWF International Badminton Tournament
The world badminton governing body BWF(Badminton World Federation) has divided the international badminton tournaments into three grades. The higher the grades, the prize money and ranking points.
In Grade 1 and Grade 2 tournaments, players of any country or continent can participate.
The Grade 3 level tournament is continent specific and players from the same continent are eligible to participate.
Thomas Cup, Uber Cup, Sudirman Cup, BWF Championships etc are Grade 1 level tournaments.
At the second Grade comes the HSBC BWF World Tour.The BWF Tour is also subdivided into various levels.
International Challenge Tournament is a Grade 3 level badminton tournament . It is organised at the continental level by a member National Associations. The total prize money offered at the International Challenge tournament is $ 25,000 .
