Today's Edition
KUUMAR SHYAM (ABU DHABI)
The UAE’s Riyan Malhan reached the final of the badminton singles at the 2026 Dakar Youth Olympics on Wednesday. He now faces France’s Mady Sow, the top seed, in the gold medal clash.
What makes Malhan’s achievement impressive is that the third seed is yet to drop a set and also went through the two crucial knockout matches in the quarters and semi-finals the same day.
He first beat Thailand's Punnatat Prempunpong 2–0 in last-eight match before facing a very tough opponent from China, Hong Tian Yue, later in the evening.
Malhan had a shaky start in the first game of the semi-final. Throughout the game Malhan was one step behind, before forcing a tie-breaker on the penultimate point. He then went on to nail it 24-22.
A break helped, and he came out in full flow, reversing the trend, and ensured he kept the lead in the second game. Once Malhan went 12-9 up, he switched gears to wrap up the match with a 24-22, 21-13 scoreline.
But beating the left-handed Sow in the final will be tough as the latter had an easy outing in his semi-final against eighth-ranked Park Jung-bin of South Korea for a 21-12, 21-16 win.
That match lasted 37 minutes with just 18 shots in the longest rally compared to 41 in Malhan’s match. The final is scheduled for Thursday, 7.30pm UAE time.
