Championships 2026 — Photos

🏸 HHB Annual Championships 2026 — Two Sundays, Six Trophies, Zero Boredom This year we tore up the rulebook. The 2026 Championships were the first ever to be wrapped up in just two Sundays — all group games crammed into 8 February, all the knockout drama settled on 15 February — instead of dragging the competition out over months like in years gone by. Sign up, show up, commit your two hours on each Sunday, and we crowned our champions before February was even out. Tighter, punchier, and a whole lot more fun. It was also the first time we ran with a brand-new format: same-pool pairings. Pool A players were paired only with other Pool A players, and Pool B with Pool B — effectively running two completely separate tournaments side by side, each with its own Winner, Runner-Up and 3rd Place. Six trophies up for grabs, and two very different stories. Pool A — The script got torn up 📜 On paper, this was Vivek / Ziad's tournament to lose. They marched through the group stage unbeaten — 6 wins from 6, a monster net score difference of +43, and even an opening-day 21–15 win over Atul / Zaheer. Most people had already pencilled their names onto the trophy. But that's why we play the games. After both pairs cruised through their semis, the final was an absolute nerve-shredder — a full three-game slugfest: Atul / Zaheer 2–1 Vivek / Ziad (19–21, 21–19, 21–19) Atul and Zaheer lost the opener, dug in, and edged the next two games by the narrowest of margins to pull off the upset of the tournament and snatch the Pool A crown from the overwhelming favourites. Suraj / Thomas took third with a 2–0 win over Faiyaz / Yogi. Group dominance counts for nothing when the trophies are on the line. Pool B — The favourites delivered ✅ If Pool A was chaos, Pool B was the favourites holding their nerve. Shiva / Jalal went in as everyone's tip to win it — and they justified the billing. They even shrugged off a wobbly opening-day loss to Rafay / Asim (18–21) to find their gears when it mattered, surviving a three-game semi-final thriller against Rafay / Asim (18–21, 21–17, 21–15). In the final they were ruthless: Shiva / Jalal 2–0 Dhawal / Samir (21–18, 21–18) Two tight games, but never really in doubt — the favourites lifted the Pool B trophy exactly as predicted. Rafay / Asim claimed third in a three-game tussle of their own. The takeaway Two Sundays. Two pools. Six trophies. A format that finally fits the way we want to play — and proof that competitive badminton doesn't need months to deliver drama. Pool A reminded us that favourites can be toppled; Pool B reminded us that sometimes the favourites are favourites for a reason. Roll on 2027! 🏆