Lagatar24 Desk
Orleans, April 4: After losing to Toma Junior Popov in the final of the men’s singles event at Orleans Masters 2022 in France on Sunday, Indian shuttler Mithun Manjunath had to settle for a silver medal.
At the Palais des Sports, the 79th-ranked Indian shuttler was defeated by the home favourite shuttler Popov 21-11, 21-19 in 50 minutes.
The Indian, who was competing in his maiden BWF final, went into the first break behind by five points. Following the restart, Frenchman maintained his lead and easily won the first game.
The second game was even closer, as both shuttles, who were meeting on tour for the first time, battled it out until the end. The Indian was on his way to win, thanks to a slew of unforced errors by his opponent, who pushed him to a big 12-6 lead.
However, the former junior European champion made a strong comeback with some incredible shots and successfully defended his BWF Super 100 title.
B Sai Praneeth, the tournament’s top seed, had already exited early in the pre-quarters.
