Makode, Dhole to compete at World Senior Badminton Championship

NAGPUR: Experienced city shuttlers Jayendra Dhole and Kiran Makode will represent India in the VII BWF World Senior Badminton Championship which will be held at Helsingborg, Sweden, from September 20 to 26.
The Badminton Association of India (BAI) on Saturday announced the big squad for this prestigious tournament. Around hundred veteran shuttlers from across the country will try their best to bring glory to India in Europe later this year.The tournament will be held in the age groups from 35 to 70 years.
The selection was done on the basis of performance in the 39th Masters (Veteran) National Badminton Championships held earlier in the year at Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh. In all, 25 players from Maharashtra will participate in the tournament, which held once in two years.
Thirty-seven-year old Dhole will compete in two events. The multiple district badminton champion will vie for top honours in the men's singles (35 plus) and mixed doubles (35 plus). Dhole's partner in the mixed doubles will be Prerana Joshi.
Makode, 46, will feature in the mixed doubles (45 plus) with her partner Suzanne Venglet of Chennai. Southpaw Makode, an employee of LIC, and Suzanne had triumphed at Dharamshala on March 5 this year. The unseeded pair of Makode and Suzanne defeated Ch Sanyasi Rao and Kavita Dixit 21-14, 17-21, 21-13 in 40 minutes.
Dhole lost in the semifinals in both mixed doubles and men's singles at Dharamshala. He went down in the singles against third seed Sameer Abbasi but fought well in the mixed doubles. The duo of Dhole and Prerana Joshi was beaten in three games.
Although, both Makode and Dhole these days are more involved in coaching, they are still better than most when they compete in their respective age group tournaments. Both had represented India earlier in the senior world championship.