Both Kalyan Manoj and Ishasriya Mekala secure top podium spots in Skopje

​​​​​Great Britain shone in the singles finals at the European Youth Olympic Festival 2025, with Kalyan Manoj and Ishariya Mekala  claiming gold in the men’s and women’s singles events respectively.

​​​​​Men's Singles
Manoj triumphed over Switzerland’s Santiago Araujo in the final, showing how far he has come since their last meeting. “I lost to him last year,” he said, “but now, being able to beat him twice shows how much I’ve improved.” Manoj expressed beating him both in the group stages as well as the final.

He is 8th seeded for the upcomming YONEX All England Junior Badminton Championships 2025 later this month to where he is setting his sights: “I’m hoping for the finals, but we have to wait and see.”

See Kalyan's post-math interview here:

Women's Singles
In the women’s singles final, Mekala defeated Denmark’s Diya Mary Cherian to secure the title, describing the win as one of her best performances to date. “I put a lot of hard work into this, so it was really nice knowing that my hard work paid off.”

She credited her team and environment for the support: “It’s been really exciting. Everyone’s been cheering me on. I think both Kalyan and I winning golds just shows that this is not the end for Great Britain.”

See Isha's post-math interview here:

Mixed Doubles
​​​​​​Although both players teamed up for Mixed Doubles, they admitted it wasn’t their main focus and were knocked out in the first round. “We’re both satisfied with our singles,” Mekala said.

The Mixed Doubles competition continues, and it will be exciting to see who will claim the final Olympic gold of the EYOF 2025.

You can follow all the action live by clicking here