Odisha shuttlers Ayush Pattanayak and Abinash Mohanty won their second international medal in eight days, capturing the mens doubles silver at the Uganda International Series 2024, which was held at the Lugogo Indoor Stadium in Kampala, Uganda from October 3 to 6.

The Odisha duo settled for the silver after losing to fellow Indian pair of Nithin HV and Venkata Harsha Vardhan Ra Veeramreddy in the final 10-21, 18-21. Ayush and Abinash reached the final, winning four matches, including a walk-over in the opening round.

The defeated Ugandan combination of Yeseri Kisa and Latif Ngobi 21-4, 21-6 in pre-quarterfinals, top-seeded Malaysian pair of Chok Ken Wei Keane and Andy Yew Tung Kok 22-20, 22-20 in the quarterfinals and fourth-seeded Azerbaijan duo of Agil Gabilov and Dicky Dwi Pangestu 21-16, 21-11 in the semifinals.

Earlier, Ayush and Abinash won their first international medal with a bronze at the Kampala International 2024, which was also held at the Lugogo Indoor Stadium in Kampala from September 26 to 29.

As many as seven Odisha shuttlers participated in the Uganda International Series. Among the other five, Abhijit Maharana and Amrit Mohanty reached mens doubles quarterfinals, while Ayush Dash and Purba Pratyasha Panda made it to the last-eight round in mixed doubles.

Harshitaa Rout, the only woman singles player from Odisha, also qualified for the quarterfinals before losing to fourth-seeded Malaysian Loh Zhi Wei in straight games. Wei went on to clinch the gold medal, defeating Shreya Lele (India) in the final.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOTO: Abinash Mohanty (Left) and Ayush Pattanayak pose with their mens doubles silver medal at the Uganda International Series in Kampala on 6 October 2024.