Viren Nettasinghe wins bronze at 32nd Iran Fajr International Challenge

Sri Lanka’s Viren Nettasinghe won the bronze medal in the Men’s Singles at the 32nd Iran Fajr International Challenge 2024, held in Yazd, Iran from 29 January to 4 February.

The star Sri Lankan shuttler progressed from the Round of 64 undefeated, before the current BWF 68 ranked in Men’s Singles, suffered a 0-2 defeat at the hands of Vietnam’s Hai Dang Nguyen in the semi-final.

Nguyen, ranked 82 in the world, went on to clinch the Men’s Singles title defeating Indian Sathish Karunakaran in straight sets 21/17 and 21/18 as Nettasinghe settled in for the bronze medal ahead of Ayush Shetty, the Indian who reached the semi-final.

To reach the semi-final Nettasinghe overcame Brazil’s Jonathan Matias 2-1, after conceding the first set 19/21 and powering his way in the return sets 21/11 and 21/15 in the quarter-finals. Nettasinghe enjoyed a cruising first round, as he defeated Iran’s Mohamed Pairava nd in straight sets (21/5, 21/11) and continued his form by defeating Russia’s Ivan Rusev (21/13, 23/21) and Norway’s Markus Barth (21/19, 21/11) in straight sets on his way to the quarter-final stage. 

Over 200 players from 20 countries were part of this BWF sanctioned tournament held at the Yazd Sports Hall in Yazd, Iran from 29 January to 

4 February.