Over the last month, the relatively new pairing of Oliver Leydon-Davis and Abhinav Manota have traveled around Europe to train and compete in BWF International Challenge and International Series events.
Starting with the YONEX Polish Open, the pair went on to compete in the Finish Open 2019 where they narrowly missed out on the main draw, both times. However, the pair found their form this week at the 20thVICTOR Dutch International 2019 as they go on to chase the Tokyo 2020 Olympic dream.
The pair saw off the challenge against three Danish pairs on route to the final, along with a bye in the second round against the third seeds following injury.
Victory was well in sight of the pair as they recovered from one game down to take the second. However the kiwi pairing eventually lost the match in the third end:
- Daniel Lundgaard/Mathias Thyrri (DEN) vs Abhinav Manota/Oliver Leydon-Davis (NZL) 21-16 15-21 21-14
“This Europe trip has came to an end. Sadly we couldn’t win the finals in doubles in the Dutch Series but we definitely have improved our partnership over the last month. So gutted that I lost in singles in pre-quarters in a very close match. I have learned so many things from this trip which I need to work on when I get back to NZ.” – Abhinav Manota.
The pair will return to their home country over the coming days to compete in the Barfoot & Thomson New Zealand Open 2019 – the first Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games qualifying event.
You can view all the results from the 20th VICTOR Dutch International 2019 on Tournament Software.
