Leroy Francis D'Sa (born 12 October 1953) is a retired Indian badminton player. D'sa is one of the first finest doubles player country has ever produced, and he dominated the Indian doubles internationally until late 80s.[1][2]

Leroy D'Sa
Personal information
CountryIndia
Born (1953-10-12) 12 October 1953 (age 71)
ResidenceMumbai, Maharashtra, India
Doubles
Current rankingRetired
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  India
Asian Games
Bronze medal – third place 1982 New Delhi Men's doubles
Bronze medal – third place 1982 New Delhi Mixed doubles
Bronze medal – third place 1982 New Delhi Men's team
Bronze medal – third place 1986 Seoul Men's team
Asian Championships
Silver medal – second place 1983 Calcutta Men's team

D'sa is the only player from India ever to have managed to claim four Asian games medals, until now as of 2018 games, his record remains intact. He initially learned the basics of the sport in Hyderabad where his father was posted in Reserve Bank of India. Further he moved to Kanpur then Mumbai to develop his game even more. In Mumbai he was employed by the Railway in 1974. Indian contingent went on to win silver at the 1983 Asian championships in Calcutta. D'sa was part of that team. The same year he won Austrian International in men's doubles with Partho Ganguly. Again at the Asian games in 1986, he bagged men's team medal.

He was one of the only players to have medalled from India at the individual events in Asian games until for next 36 years. In 1982, D'sa claimed two bronze medals in men's and mixed doubles with Pradeep Gandhe and Kanwal Thakar Singh in a scratch pairing. Usually D'sa played men' doubles with Sanat Mishra in international circuit. He has 7 national championship titles to his name with different partners, Prakash Padukone, Ami Ghia, Sanat Mishra and Suresh Goel. D'sa was coaching the Pullela Gopichand when he won the 2001 All England title. He played at the state level until his late 50s and has shaped next generation of Indian doubles which includes players like Jwala Gutta, V. Diju, Sanave Thomas and many others. Currently he is training new crop of players in Hindu Gymkhana in Mumbai.[3][4][5]

Achievements

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Asian Games

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Men's doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
1982 Indraprastha Indoor Stadium,
New Delhi, India
  Pradeep Gandhe   Christian Hadinata
  Icuk Sugiarto
15–11, 2–15, 5–15   Bronze

Mixed doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
1982 Indraprastha Indoor Stadium,
New Delhi, India
  Kanwal Thakar Singh   Christian Hadinata
  Ivana Lie
10–15, 3–15   Bronze

IBF International

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Men's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
1983 Austrian International   Partho Ganguli   Pradeep Gandhe
  Syed Modi
15–8, 18–13   Winner

References

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  1. ^ "LEROY D-SA". coachkhoj.com. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  2. ^ "Leroy Francis D'Sa". bwfbadminton.com. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  3. ^ Akaash Dasgupta (27 August 2018). "Asian Games 2018: Historic day for Indian badminton". The Times of India. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  4. ^ Kulkarni, Abhijeet (16 June 2020). "Leroy D'sa, the only Indian badminton player to have won four Asian Games medals". scroll.in. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  5. ^ Biswas, Sudipta (12 March 2021). "Badminton legend Leroy D'sa tells the untold story of Indian doubles". etvbharat.com. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
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