NAVELIM: Unnati Hooda and Bharat Raghav won girls and boys singles title while Divyam Arora-Mayank Rana won boys doubles title at the Yonex Sunrise All India Junior (U19) Ranking Badminton Tournament at Manohar Parrikar indoor stadium, here in South Goa on Thursday. Sathwik Reddy K and Vaishnavi Khadkekar won the mixed doubles title while Isharani Baruah and Devika Sihag were crowned girls doubles champions.
The tournament was organised by Goa Badminton Association (GBA) and North Goa District Badminton Association under the aegis of Badminton Association of India and the Sports Authority of Goa. Sports Secretary (Govt of Goa) Ajit Roy and Margao MLA & Chief Patron of GBA, Digambar Kamat graced the occasion to start off the proceedings on the concluding day of the seven-day tournament.
The final day began with the girls singles summit clash between Unnati Hooda [6] and Devika Sihag [5], both from Haryana. The contest progressed on an even keel with both girls displaying top-notch skills. Unnati took the first game 23-21, but she was error-prone in the second game. As a result, Devika levelled the match, taking the game 21-14. The deciding game was testimony to the prodigious talent of Unnati, who is the youngest Indian to win a BWF Super 100 competition, as she fought back from being five points down at 9-14, to win the final game 21-19, and with that the match in one hour and seven minutes.
In the boys final, second seed Bharat Raghav of Haryana surprised Telangana’s Pranav Rao Gandham [1] with a 21-18, 21-12 triumph. The 42-minute duel proved to be a largely one-sided affair contrary to the expectation of a high-voltage thriller. Pranav Rao, who had displayed a ferocious game in his previous outings, looked off-colour, while Bharat Raghav looked composed and in total control.
Devika Sihag also from Haryana, was amongst the winners in the girls doubles event having begun her day with runner-up trophy in singles. The 17-year-old Infosys Foundation shuttler teaming up with Isharani Baruah [4] of Assam, registered a fantastic comeback win 16-21, 21-17, 21-18 against TN duo of Gnanadha Karthikeyan and Sania Sikkandar in an exciting tussle that lasted 1 hour and 2 minutes.
In the mixed doubles final, Sathwik Reddy K and Vaishnavi Khadkekar got the better of Vighnesh Thathineni-Sri Sai Sravya Lakkamraju in an all-Telangana affair 17-21, 21-16, 21-16 in the longest encounter of the day taking 1 hour and 16 minutes.
The last final of the concluding day of the tournament featured the boys doubles event where Divyam Arora and Mayank Rana defeated Darshan Pujari and Abhinav Thakur (seeded 1) 21-18, 21-17 in 42 minutes.
Results: GS U19 – Unnati Hooda bt Devika Sihag 23-21, 14-21, 21-19.
XD U19 – Sathwik Reddy K./ Vaishnavi Khadkekar bt Vighnesh Thathineni / Sri Sai Sravya Lakkamraju 17-21, 21-16, 21-16 .
BS U19 – Bharat Raghav bt Pranav Rao Gandham 21-18, 21-12 .
GD U19 – Isharani Baruah / Devika Sihag bt Gnanadha Karthikeyan / Sania Sikkandar (1) 16-21, 21-17, 21-18 .
BD U19 – Divyam Arora / Mayank Rana bt Darshan Pujari / Abhinav Thakur 21-18, 21-17.
