Goa’s Shaheen Cherkala Kunjutty made an impressive start to the main draw of the Yonex-Sunrise G.H. Raisoni Memorial All India Junior Ranking Badminton Tournament 2026, winning both his opening-round matches in Mixed Doubles and Men’s Doubles at the Manohar Parrikar Indoor Stadium, Navelim.
Partnering Arunachal Pradesh’s Jesicca Neyi Saring, Shaheen defeated Karnataka’s Armaan Khan and Vibhava Kedalasara Raghavendra 15-12, 15-13 in Mixed Doubles Round of 32. He then teamed up with fellow Goan Aswin Mannambalath to overcome Gujarat’s Bhashy Pathak and Parth Puri 15-8, 6-15, 15-11 in Men’s Doubles Round of 32.
In Women’s Singles Round of 64, Goa’s Sufiya Shaikh registered a hard-fought 15-9, 11-15, 15-11 victory over Kerala’s Aagamya Jayan, while Dimple Revankar went down 8-15, 10-15 to Delhi’s Sakshi Rana.
Goa’s Aarush Pawaskar faced a tough opening-round test against Arunachal Pradesh’s Samuel Tamang, who holds a junior world ranking of 48, losing 7-15, 10-15 in Men’s Singles Round of 64. Advait Balakrishnan also exited after a 7-15, 7-15 defeat to Arunachal Pradesh’s Gumsh Licha, while Advait and Owais Tahasildar lost 12-15, 11-15 to Delhi’s Arnav Sharma and Gagan Yadav in Men’s Doubles.
In Women’s Doubles, Sufiya Shaikh and Shivanjali Thite went down 8-15, 9-15 to Karnataka’s Mahitha Naidu Surisetty and Sai Renuja Surisetty. The National ranking tournament has been organised by Goa Badminton Association in collaboration with North Goa District Badminton Association and SAG.
