It has certainly been a memorable week for Maisnam Meiraba. He created history by winning the tournament after qualifying for the main draw on debut.

Qualifier Meiraba arrived on the big stage by clinching the senior international title in his first ever tournament in Jelgava on Sunday. The 18-year-old Meiraba thumped Alex Lanier of France 21-15, 12-21, 22-20 in a hard-fought summit clash which lasted for 75 minutes. Meiraba overcame a mid-match slump to record a memorable win.

With this triumph, Manipur lad Meiraba has proved his ability and launched his senior international campaign on a perfect note. Meiraba displayed his immense potential to stamp his authority in style. No wonder Meiraba is elated with this wonderful victory.

The reigning national junior champion Meiraba traveled alone to Latvia and managed everything on his own in the time of pandemic.

It was quite a nice experience for me: Meiraba

Meiraba skipped the ongoing Indian team selection trials in Hyderabad to opt for the Latvian tournament and his decision proved right.

Meiraba has been training at the Bengaluru-based Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy since 2015. The promising teenager came back from the brink of defeat to upset fifth seed Bernardo Atilano of Portugal 17-21, 22-20, 21-12 in the pre-quarterfinals.

The former Under-19 boys’ singles World No. 2 Meiraba survived a big scare early in the tournament and was almost out of contention after being match-point down.

I was calm and I played what I needed to play at that moment: Meiraba

Meiraba kept his composure and pulled off a dramatic three-game win against his Portuguese rival after saving a match point in the second game.

Meiraba bagged 1700 points from this triumph which helped him get a world ranking of 550. Meiraba wants to give credit for his success to Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy coaches and his parents.

The talented teenager Meiraba is now returning to Bengaluru before he heads to Europe again to play another tournament. The Victor Ukraine International Series will be held from September 7 to 10 at Kharkiv. Meiraba will train for a few days in Bengaluru and is likely to board a flight to Ukraine by the weekend.

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