Thomas Kurien loses in Scottish Open badminton final

Former India junior national champion Thomas Kurien went down in the final of the Scottish Open badminton championships, which concluded at Glasgow on Sunday, losing to world No. 92 Antti Vittiko of Finland 7-15, 8-15.

Kurien, who trains at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bangalore, had a great tournament after qualifying to the main draw, beating Michael Ractliffe of Scotland 15-3, 15-5 and Richard Williams of Wales 15-2, 15-1.

In the tournament proper, Thomas beat Chris Dednam of South Africa 15-0, 15-0 in the first round. He then upset Mark Burgess, one of the top English players who is ranked world No. 48, 15-8, 15-3. Next he beat Canadian No. 1 Bobby Milroy 15-13, 15-10 in the quarters. In the semi-finals, he accounted for John Uddfolk of Finland 15-6, 15-8.