Sameer Verma

Sameer Verma
Personal information
Country	India
Born	(1994-10-22) 22 October 1994 Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, India
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	60 kg (132 lb)
Handedness	Right
Coach	Pullela Gopichand
Men's singles
Highest ranking	11 (22 January 2019)
Current ranking	95 (27 August 2024)
Medal record Men's badminton Representing India World Junior Championships 2011 Taipei Boys' singles Commonwealth Youth Games 2011 Douglas Boys' singles Asian Junior Championships 2011 Lucknow Boys' singles 2011 Lucknow Mixed team 2012 Gimcheon Boys' singles
BWF profile

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

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

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
2012	Gimcheon Indoor Stadium, Gimcheon, South Korea	Kento Momota	21–13, 18–21, 9–21	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.