Sidibari
Maldivian badminton prodigy Laiba Ahmed Mahloof has won three gold medals – in singles, doubles, and mixed – at the Armenian Youth Open Championship held in Yerevan, Armenia.
The championship, held from Friday to Sunday, is one of Badminton Europe’s circuit tournaments.
All three of Laiba’s finals were held today, starting with the U13 singles final early in the morning.
Singles
Laiba faced her doubles teammate, Emmelia Sofocleous of Cyprus, in the singles final. She comfortably won in two sets, 21-15 and 21-11.
In Friday’s round two of the U13 singles, Laiba played against Marina Asilbekyan, an Armenian native, and won the match 21-7, 21-16.
She then faced Meri Aleksanyan, another Armenian, in round three. Laiba won both sets comfortably, 21-5 and 21-7.
The knockout stage began yesterday morning. After receiving a bye in the round of sixteen, Laiba faced Magda Shahbazyan of Georgia in the quarterfinals.
Laiba won the quarterfinal in three sets. After a narrow first-set win of 22-20, she lost the second set 18-21. She came back strong in the third, winning 21-13 to move into the semifinals, where she faced Gayane Avetisyan, another Armenian player.
Laiba lost the first set 16-21 against Gayane but managed to turn things around by winning the second and third sets 21-19 and 21-8.
Laiba was the top seed in the U13 Girls’ singles main draw. Her opponent in the final, Emmelia Sofocleous, was the second seed and also Laiba’s partner in the girls’ doubles.
Doubles
Laiba teamed up with Emmelia for the doubles final this morning, facing Zoia Kutuzova, another Cypriot, and Anna Sarkisian from Georgia. Laiba and Emmelia won comfortably, 21-11 and 21-11 in two sets.
They had an impressive run-up to the final, winning rounds two and three by 21-9, 21-12 and 21-3, 21-5 respectively, both against Armenian pairs.
After receiving a bye in the quarterfinals, Laiba and Emmelia faced another Armenian duo in yesterday’s semifinal. They won both sets on narrow margins, 21-16 and 21-17.
Their opponents in today’s final were seeded second in the U13 Girls’ doubles main draw, while Laiba and Emmelia were the top seeds.
Mixed Doubles
Laiba paired up with Armenian player Erik Eloyan for the mixed doubles category. They were seeded third but managed to become champions in the end.
Laiba and Erik faced Armenian duo Avet Aleksanyan and Emili Tadevosyan in the final this afternoon. They won in two sets, 21-11 and 25-23.
The pair had defeated Kyriacos Papayiannis and Aida Yenoqyan in yesterday’s semifinal with scores of 21-12 and 21-12.
