Don of Qatar Badminton Academy excels in Belgium

Don Henley Averia emerged as Gold winner in the Victor Jr International Championship 2015 which took place in Belgium recently. Only 12 years old, the boy is the protégé of Qatar Badminton Academy and has been training since he was only 5 years old. He has won several tournaments in Qatar and GCC countries and was the winner of BWF’s XXI Pan-American Junior Badminton Championship that was held in Canada a couple years back. Don was quick to acknowledge QBA for his gold.

Don of Qatar Badminton Academy excels in Belgium

Doha: Don Henley Averia, the 12-year-old protégé of Qatar Badminton Academy (QBA), emerged as Gold winner in the Victor Jr International Championship 2015 held in Edegem, Belgium recently.

Playing in the Under-13 boys singles category representing USA in a knock-out format, Don bested players from Germany, England France Scotland Denmark and Finland.

At the hotly contested crucial semi-finals match against top seed Mahendra Suvartana from Denmark, Don took the first set 21-16 with a tactical combination of drop shots, high clears, and smashes, pounding Mahendra to the corners, forcing errors to the net. In the second set, Mahendra with killer smashes and tricky backhand drops took early lead, but Don took his game remaining calm and patient, working at every point to win the set at 21-14.

In the grand finale, Don Henley overpowered Joakim Oldorff from Sweden 21-15, 21-11 to win gold. Later he paired with Matti Likka Bahro of Germany, to clinch the Under-13 boys doubles gold beating Kenneth Cheung and Callum Smith of Scotland.

Immediately after the match, Don Henley was quick to acknowledge QBA coaches for his gold. “We train three days a week, doing a lot of strength training and building stamina, varied drills for every possible game situation”, Don said. Don has won several tournaments in Qatar and GCC countries and was the Winner of BWF’s XXI Pan-American Junior Badminton Championships held in Canada couple of years back. He is preparing for the International Jr Badminton Championship to be held at Glasgow, Scotland in May 2015.

Don has been training at the QBA since he was 5 years old under Arun Vijayakumar, former state level player from India and GCC Champion, Khallol Roy, Sports Authority of India accredited coach, the main coaches of QBA. 

THE PENINSULA