Puri Smash Kings emerge champions in first Odisha Premier Badminton League

Cuttack: Puri Smash Kings defeated LBN Lions 3-1 to win the first ever Odisha Premier Badminton League held at Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Cuttack. In the finals LBN Lions managed a win only in the first unseeded Men’s Doubles category while Puri Smash Kings made an exciting comeback and won the next three matches by defeating LBN Lions in Men’s Doubles, Veterans’ Doubles and Junior Boys Doubles categories.

Earlier in the tournament LBN Lions defeated ABC Warriors in the first semi-final while Puri Smash Kings routed Falcon Fighters in the second.

“I was very excited during the tournament and today is the happiest day of my life as we won this tournament. Youngsters will be inspired from tournaments like this,” said a player of the winning team Sanjay Sahoo.

In the closing evening, Odisha Sports Minister Chandra Sarathi Behera graced the occasion as the Chief Guest in presence of Guest Of Honor Jagi Mangat Panda, Co-founder and Director of Odisha Television Network and Ollywood stars Sabyasachi Mishra and Elina Samantray.

“I am very happy that this successful tournament has come to an end. All the players were very excited to play a tournament like this for the first time and we will ensure that we organize this next year as well,” said organizing secretary Kamal Das.

This three-day tournament kicked off on Friday and in total eight franchise teams from all across the state participated in the event.