Abeywickrama wins bronze at International Future Series
Dumindu Abeywickrama, an old-boy of Royal College, Colombo, who is ranked 197 in the world, won the bronze medal yesterday at the International Badminton Future Series played in Shimkent, Kazakstan.
On his way to the semifinals, Abeywickrama, 20, beat Lan Gabriel Vargas of Philippines 2-1 in the pre-quarter-final. After losing the first set 19-21, Abeywickrama came back strongly to take the last two sets by 21-9 and 21-9.
He went on to beat Akash Singh of India 2-1 in the quarter-finals. Abeywickrama won the first set 21-17, but the Indian returned to claim the second set 19-21. In the final set, Abeywickrama dominated and sealed the game with a score of 21-15.
In the semi-final he was up against Dmitry Panarin from Kazakhstan, who is ranked 100 in the world. However, Abeywickrama lost the semi-final in straight sets (4-21, 11-21) to settle in with the bronze medal.