KOCHI:This season's Ernakulam District Badminton Championship recently concluded at the Regional Sports Centre (RSC) here and at the end of it all, it was a 46-year-old who got the better of 17-year-old Nived K (21-16, 21-13) to be crowned the champion.
The winner was Jaison Xavier whose name is a familiar one for the followers of the sport. A former doubles national champion, Jaison was elated to once again clinch the district title -- a trophy that he last lifted almost a decade ago.
Jaison had originally planned to participate in the veterans doubles event (for those aged 45 and above) at the championship but was forced to enrol for the men's singles as a last resort after his doubles partner Rupesh Kumar quit owing to an injury.
"It was a last minute decision as I couldn't find a partner in time. I had to anyway go for the championship as I had to accompany my son Bjorn who was competing in the under-11 category. So, that is why I decided to give it a shot," said the veteran shuttler.
The tournament turned out to be one of double delight for the family as Bjorn managed to reach the final of the U-11 singles and win the runner-up trophy while his father brought home the winner's medal.
"It wasn't a straightforward win as there were some promising players in the draw, but the absence of players like Shyam Prasad, Mohammed Munawar and Aswin Paul made things a little bit easy," said Jason who these days competes in the senior circuit.
He reached the pre-quarterfinals of the 2015 BWF World Senior Badminton Championship held in Helsingborg, Sweden, and went one better in 2017 emerging a bronze medalist in both the singles (45+) and doubles (40+) at the championship held in Kochi.
Jaison, a contemporary of Rupesh, Sanave Thomas and Jaseel P Ismail, is excited to see his favourite sport gaining mass approval across the country. "The results of Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu, as well as the effort of Pullela Gopichand, has attracted plenty of youngsters to the sport," he said.
"Badminton academies have been mushrooming across India in the past few years and especially after Sindhu's Olympic silver. Even in Kochi, there is a huge response to the summer coaching camps that are currently underway," Jaison said.
"While we were young, the few camps that were held had like 30-40 youngster. But now, the number of camps have shot up and each of them accommodates around 200-250 trainees which prove how far the game has progressed in the last couple of decades," he added.