JAIPUR: The phenomenal success of Riyan Malhan is a sad story of India’s loss turned into the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) gain.
The former Indian badminton player helped the UAE win a historic U-15 boys’ singles bronze medal at the 2024 Badminton Asia U-17 & U-15 Junior Championships, which concluded in Chengdu, China on Sunday.
The 14-year-old Riyan, who represented Delhi in domestic badminton tournaments in India until last year, chose to represent the UAE at last week’s Asian Junior Badminton Championships, contributing to his new home’s only medal win.
Li Yang was the top seed and lost a hard-fought match to China’s Qian Jia Xing in the semi-finals. After defeating Li Yang, the Chinese shuttler won the gold medal.
A former student of Delhi-based Dubai Gem Private School (DGPS), Riyan is considered one of the best players in the world in his age group.His exceptional talent and impressive international rankings have seen Riyan named as the top seed in the U-15 boys’ singles category.
In the U-15 boys’ doubles, Riyan and his UAE partner Adam Jesslin lost in the quarterfinals to their Indonesian counterparts.
Not long ago, Riyan was making waves in India and won a silver medal at the All India Sub-Junior U-13 Ranking Badminton Tournament held in Mumbai in November 2022.
A month later, Liyan performed well representing Delhi at the BAI U-13 National Championships in Lucknow, reaching the quarterfinals. Liyan has been ranked among the top five in the Badminton Association of India (BAI) rankings for 2023.
The Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy also recognised his talent and offered him a scholarship training programme. He also trained at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy.
However, Riyan, who was born in Dubai on May 16, 2010, decided to leave India and join the UAE team.
Riyan’s father, Vipul Malhan, is a former national-level shuttler and currently serves as senior vice president of Mashreq Bank in the UAE. Riyan, who moved to the Gulf state last year, is currently training at the Prime Star Academy in the UAE.
BAI joint secretary general Omar Rashid acknowledged that it was a loss for India as Riyan chose to play for the UAE. “He had performed well in all BAI tournaments till last season and he is definitely a promising player,” Rashid said.
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