Slick Maliekal is the Benoni Blaster

EAST London badminton star Jacob Maliekal was in top form over the past weekend to triumph in the South African International badminton tournament held in Benoni. Maliekal beat Anatoliy Yartsev of Russia in the final, 21-5, 21-13 in a powerful performance to claim the title. “The South African International is always one that I want to win, especially as it is my home tournament, so I was happy to take the title,” said Maliekal. Maliekal breezed through the opening rounds before facing a major challenge in the semis where he needed three sets to beat Maxime Moreels 1521, 21-18, 21-17. In the final he then powered past the Russian Yartsev to seal the title. “The first few rounds weren't too tough, but in the semis I came up against a Belgium guy, who has been on the circuit for a while now, it was my first time playing him and it proved to be a tough game,” said Maliekal.

“But I got through and came up against the Russian number two player in the final and he was quite good, but I played well and came out on top.”

Next up for Maliekal is the Botswana Open over the coming weekend and he leaves for Botswana today.

He will be aiming to add another title to his silverware cabinet.

“I gained a lot of confidence from my performance in the SA International, so I hope I can take that momentum into the Botswana Open and do well again,” said Maliekal.

It has been a really good year for Maliekal, as he won a number of major tournaments and sealed the number one ranked African player spot, which saw him qualify to play in the Rio Olympics.

“It has been a really good year for me, qualifying for the Olympics was obviously the main goal for the year and I achieved that,” he said.

“This has been my first tournament win since Rio, however I have been training and competing in some big tournaments, so I am happy to get back to winning ways.”

Following the Botswana Open Maliekal will have a bit of a breather over the rest of December before starting the new year with two major tournaments in China and Malaysia.

“After the Botswana Open I will be done for the year, but I will be getting straight back into training as my focus will be on the tournaments in Malaysia and China in January which I need to be ready for,” he said.

The Botswana Open gets under way today and finishes on Sunday.