Sameer Verma

Sameer Verma (born 22 October 1994) is an Indian badminton player. He trains at the Gopichand Badminton Academy, Hyderabad. Sameer is the brother of Indian badminton player Sourabh Verma.

Career

2011 Verma won a silver medal in the boys singles and a bronze in the mixed team event in the Asian Junior Championships, held in Lucknow, India. He also won silver at the men's singles at the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games, losing in the final to Zulfadli Zulkiffli of Malaysia. He also secured a bronze medal in World Junior Championships in the boys' singles category.

2012 At the 36th Junior National Badminton Championships in Jaipur, Verma won the boys' singles U-19 category. The same year Verma also reached the final of the Iran Fajr International. He also secured a bronze medal in Asian Junior Championships held in Gimcheon, South Korea in the boys' singles category. He had a world rank #3 in Junior boys' singles.

2013 In 2013, Verma won his first international titles, the men's singles event at the Bahrain International Series and Bahrain International Challenge.

2014 Battling injuries in 2012 and 2013, Verma came back strongly in 2014 by winning the All India Senior Ranking Badminton Championships, in Bareilly. He also bagged the Bahrain International Challenge title defeating Subhankar Dey in a thrilling three setter finals. He also added another title to his name by won the Bahrain International Series against Dinuka Karunaratne in a 1-hour three setter match.

2015 Verma grabbed three major titles in the men's singles category including Tata Open International Challenge held at Mumbai, India, Bahrain International Challenge and Bahrain International Series. He was the runner-up in the Bangladesh and Sri Lanka International Challenge and also a semi-finalist in the Bulgaria International Challenge tournament.

2016 Verma defeated world No. 3 Jan Ø. Jørgensen in straight games to storm into the final of the Hong Kong Open Super Series. In the final, he lost to host player, Ng Ka Long, in straight games.

2017 Verma won the Syed Modi International in January 2017 defeating B. Sai Praneeth 21–19 21–16 in the final. He beat the higher ranked Hans-Kristian Vittinghus in the quarter-finals of the same tournament.

2018 In 2018, Verma won the Swiss Open title beating Jan Ø. Jørgensen (21–15, 21–13) in the final. Later in the year he also won the Hyderabad Open a Super 100 event, before defending his title in November beating Lu Guangzu by 16–21, 21–19, 21–14 at the Syed Modi International. With his title finish at his home Super 300 event, he confirmed his qualification for the World Tour Finals, in Guangzhou, standing at the 7th position in the qualification list and where only the top 8 most consistent players across all five disciplines are allowed to compete for the year end finale crown and win a share of $1.5 million. He played the semi-finals of the World Tour Finals as the first Indian male badminton player to secure a position in the World Tour Finals tournament. He stunned Tommy Sugiarto and Kantaphon Wangcharoen in straight sets in the group stage. Verma lost the hard-fought semi-finals against Shi Yuqi of China after leading on match-point in the second set. The thrilling match lasted for an hour and eight minutes, the scores being 21–12, 20–22 and 17–21.

Achievements

World Junior Championships Boys' singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 2011 Taoyuan Arena, Taoyuan City, Taipei, Taiwan Viktor Axelsen 19–21, 19–21 Bronze Bronze

Commonwealth Youth Games Boys' singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 2011 National Sports Centre, Douglas, Isle of Man Zulfadli Zulkiffli 16–21, 21–17, 15–21 Silver Silver

Asian Junior Championships Boys' singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 2011 Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium, Lucknow, India Zulfadli Zulkiffli 15–21, 17–21 Silver Silver 2012 Gimcheon Indoor Stadium, Gimcheon, South Korea Kento Momota 21–13, 18–21, 9–21 Bronze Bronze

BWF World Tour (3 titles) The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tours are divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.

Men's singles Year Tournament Level Opponent Score Result 2018 Swiss Open Super 300 Jan Ø. Jørgensen 21–15, 21–13 Winner 2018 Hyderabad Open Super 100 Soong Joo Ven 21–15, 21–18 Winner 2018 Syed Modi International Super 300 Lu Guangzu 16–21, 21–19, 21–14 Winner

BWF Superseries (1 runner-up) The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, was a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries levels were Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consisted of twelve tournaments around the world that had been introduced since 2011. Successful players were invited to the Superseries Finals, which were held at the end of each year.

Men's singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result 2016 Hong Kong Open Ng Ka Long 14–21, 21–10, 11–21 Runner-up BWF Superseries Finals tournament BWF Superseries Premier tournament BWF Superseries tournament

BWF Grand Prix (1 title) The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and played between 2007 and 2017.

Men's singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result 2017 Syed Modi International B. Sai Praneeth 21–19, 21–16 Winner BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament BWF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series (6 titles, 4 runners-up) Men's singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result 2012 Iran Fajr International Niluka Karunaratne 18–21, 15–21 Runner-up 2013 Bahrain International Dinuka Karunaratna 21–11, 18–21, 21–13 Winner 2013 Bahrain International Challenge Subhankar Dey 19–21, 21–14, 21–12 Winner 2015 Sri Lanka International B. Sai Praneeth 18–21, 8–21 Runner-up 2015 Bahrain International Pratul Joshi 21–13, 18–21, 21–8 Winner 2015 Bahrain International Challenge Derek Wong 21–14, 21–10 Winner 2015 Bangladesh International B. Sai Praneeth 14–21, 21–8, 17–21 Runner-up 2015 Tata India International Sourabh Varma 21–11, 21–18 Winner 2023 Slovenia Open Su Li-yang 21–18, 21–14 Winner 2024 Azerbaijan International Jeon Hyeok-jin 21–13, 3–6 retired Runner-up BWF International Challenge tournament BWF International Series tournament BWF Future Series tournament

Personal Verma hails from a sport-loving family. His parents live in Dhar district in Madhya Pradesh. He followed in the footsteps of his brother Sourabh Varma, who is also an internationally ranked badminton player, and took up badminton as a sport at a very young age. He soon moved to the Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad to train under coach and former Indian player Pullela Gopichand.

Awards He has been awarded the Vikram Award in the year 2016 for badminton by Madhya Pradesh. He has also been the recipient for the Eklavya Award in 2009 for badminton by Madhya Pradesh. Additionally, Sameer Verma has been nominated for the Sportsman of the Year in Racquet Sport (2018) at the Sportstar Aces Awards supported by Supreme Committee of Delivery and Legacy and Emerging Sportsman of the Year by Indian Sports Honors (2017), Organised by Virat Kohli Foundation.