NAVELIM: Top seed Pranav Rao Gandham will clash with Bharat Raghav (2) in the boys final while Unnati Hooda (6) will take on Devika Sihag (5) in the girls final of the Yonex Sunrise All India Junior (U19) Ranking Badminton Goa 2022, at Manohar Parrikar indoor stadium here in South Goa on Thursday morning. Devika will also have an opportunity to clinch a double crown as she has also made it to the doubles final along with her partner Isharani Baruah with an incredible victory semi-final win.
A lot was expected form an all-Haryana match-up, as Unnati Hooda took on higher-seeded Anupama Upadhyaya (4). However, the 14-year-old Unnati put up a commanding display to win 21-14, 21-14 and seal the final spot.
Unnati will meet Devika Sihag (5) in the final. Devika, who prevailed over Rakshitha Sree S. (7) 22-24 21-13 21-11 in 1 hour and 3 minutes in semis, also gave a fantastic account of herself in the marathon doubles semis. Credit to their outstanding fitness levels, Devika and Isharani Baruah (4) overcame a stiff resistance from Navya Kanderi (8) and Rakshitha Sree S.
19-21 21-16 21-15 in 1 hour and 21 minutes.
Over on the boys singles event, top-seed Telangana’s Pranav Rao Gandham defeated Haryana’s Manraj Singh 21-16, 21-19 in an entertaining encounter, which lasted 52 minutes. Pranav Rao was spot on with his smashes, while Manraj, who came through the Qualifying Tournament, seemed a bit short of his best energy levels when it mattered the most.
In mixed doubles, Sathwik Reddy K and Vaishnavi Khadkekar put up a stunning display as they booked the title clash getting the better of Samarveer (3) and Radhika Sharma 22-20, 21-16 in the semis. They will meet Vighnesh Thathineni & Sri Sai Sravya Lakkamraju, who knocked out Divyam Arora (7) and Ridhi Kaur Toor 21-9 21-13.
Elsewhere, Bharat Raghav (2) beat Tonmoy Bikash Boruah (4) 21-9 21-17; Darshan Pujari (1)-Abhinav Thakur beat Nicholas Nathan Raj (4)-Tushar Suveer 21-10 21-13; Divyam Arora-Mayank Rana beat Prabhjeet Singh Chhabra-Abhishek Mondalika Venkat 15-21, 21-17, 21-14; Gnanadha Karthikeyan (1)-Sania Sikkandar beat Kanishka G.-Dhanyaa N. 21-7 21-12.
Earlier, Unnati Hooda beat a fighting Gargi of UP 21-13, 21-15 in the girls last-8 stage. Anupama Upadhyaya got the better of a battling Anmol Kharb 21-18, 21-16 in 47minutes.
In the other quarter-finals, Rakshitha Sree S. beat Tanoo Chandra 21-17 21-8; Devika Sihag beat Neysa Cariappa A. 21-18, 21-13; Tonmoy Bikash Boruah beat Samarveer 21-17 21-14; Bharat Raghav beat Tushar Suveer 21-15, 21-18.
