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Badminton Biography of Raja Haider

Raja Zulkarnain Haider was born on 1st November 2002 in Gujrat main city. He has never failed to impress us on any competitive stage, be it domestic or international. In the early stages of his life, he had to bear the loss of his beloved father. The junior champion followed the footsteps of his elder brother, Raja Muhammad Hasnain, and entered his family game at the age of 10. 

He started off his career under the guidance of coach Malik Hamid Raza at City Badminton Club. A year later, after seeking professional training, he participated in an U-12 tournament in Lahore where he came out unbeaten in singles and as 2nd best in the doubles category. In 2014 Haider was selected in the Punjab team for Interprovincial tournament (U-14) and was crowned silver medalist along with his teammates. 


As his brother saw the improvement and urge in Haider, he also showed interest in training him. The ‘Raja brothers’ wanted to be successful in the mission they were out for, i.e, to fulfill their father's dream. He proved to his opponents in junior circuit that he was mentally stronger from them as he was unbeaten for several years in his Junior career. In 2015 he won a gold medal at U-17 Team event National championship. In the same year and age category, he clinched a gold medal in junior National championship (Lahore). In 2016 he represented Pakistan at the World Junior Championship U-19 in Indonesia. The following year he was able to defend his title in U-17 National championship. Also, he showed remarkable performances at his home ground by winning district championship 4 times in 2 years (2017-2018).  


Moreover, he was double crowned in under 18 National championship 2018, winning both Men’s singles and Men’s doubles (with Tayyab Shafiq). In the same year, Haider also represented Pakistan in Asian Junior Championship at Indonesia. For about 4 years, he maintained his top spot in Junior circuit. However, his winning streak was ended by Muhammad Adnan (KPK) and had to settle for silver in All Pakistan Junior ranking tournament in 2019. Haider did not let this defeat stop him from showing remarkable performances in the senior category. In 2019, Haider made his appearance in National championship 2019, where he pulled out 2 upsets consecutively by beating Shabbar Hussain and Abdur Rehman (Ranked 11). 


The year 2019 proved to be an important year for his career as he bagged many victories. He reached his first ever senior National championship final in Men’s Doubles (with Awais Zahid) and stood on the podium with a silver medal. He also reached another final in All Pakistan Ranking tournament (Peshawar) in Men’s doubles (with Awais Zahid). Haider also showed an impressive performance by reaching the final of a major competition of National Games’ Team event (2019). Also he clinched a bronze medal in Mixed doubles (with Amal Muneeb) in the same tournament. He represented Pakistan in Pakistan International series 2019. Moreover, in 2019 Raja Haider made history when he beat India in the finals of Men’s doubles in the  South Asian Championship U-21 in Maldives. However, according to him, upon coming back from Maldives there were not more than 5-6 people at the airport to congratulate him, and even Pakistan Sports Board did not show much interest. On the other hand, Pakistan Badminton Federation rewarded him by Rs 37000 this reception after such an important victory was mentally disturbing for him, but supporters like Jabir Zamir, Umer Zeeshan (Former National Champion), his uncle Sajid Raza and most importantly, his family motivated him to get back on track and continue his mission. 


Recently, Raja Zulkarnain Haider pulled out a major upset of his career by beating Murad Ali (Pak no.1) in Team event Finals.



Future aims:

Haider, along with his brother, aims to train abroad for few months to enhance their game after this pandemic ends. Moreover, he aims not only to participate in Olympic games, but also bag a medal for his country.


We wish good luck to our junior champion to succeed in his mission and continue to make our country proud. 


Written by: Muhammad Anas Akhtar (Admin FBCOP)

https://www.facebook.com/badmintoninpakistan/

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