By Admin
Paralympic bronze medallist, Eniola Bolaji has emerged champion of the 2025 British and Irish Para Badminton International, held at the Sport Wales National Centre in Cardiff.
The Nigerian ranked Number 2 in the world claimed a hard-fought 2-1 victory (21-16, 16-21, 21-13) over Paralympic champion and world No. 1 Qonitah Syakuroh in the women’s SL3 final.
Bolaji started on a high, taking the first set 21-16, but Syakuroh responded with a 21-16 win in the second. In a tense third set, Syakuroh led until 13 points before Bolaji surged ahead from 11 to win 21-13 and secure the title.
The win is a revenge of her loss to Indonesian in the semifinals of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
Her campaign began with a 2-0 (21-12, 21-18) win over Australia’s Celine Vinot in Round 2. She then defeated world No. 10 Milena Surreau of France 2-0 (21-8, 21-18), followed by another dominant 2-0 (21-5, 21-15) win over India’s Sanjana Kumari.
In the semifinals, Bolaji faced Celine Vinot again and delivered an emphatic 2-0 (21-4, 21-8) victory to advance to the final, where she clinched her biggest international title to date.
