NAVELIM: Goa’s Sandhya Melasheemi and her partner Sangeetha Mari from Karnataka emerged champions in the 35+ women’s doubles event on the concluding day of the All-India Masters Ranking Badminton Tournament 2021, at Manohar Parrikar Indoor Stadium, Navelim-Goa, on Sunday afternoon.
Former national champion Sandhya added the gold medal to her kitty, having earlier clinched a silver medal from the 35+ singles event.
In the thrilling doubles title clash, Sandhya-Sangeetha got the better of their opponents Nupura Gadgil and Pooja Patil 21-19, 18-21, 21-13 in a gruelling 1 hour eight-minute clash.
Sandhya was very happy with the successful defence of the doubles title along with her partner Sangeetha since they forged the partnership at the last nationals held in Jaipur before the Covid-19 outbreak; more so because the duo topped Nupura-Pooja, who had been a force in this category for some time now.
“It was an amazing contest. It could have been anybody’s match. It boiled down to a stage where we kept our nerve, and clinched the gold medal,” Sandhya, whose combination with Sangeetha seemed brilliant with their complementing styles and on-court understanding for all to see, told www.livenewsgoa.com.
“We are ecstatic! Especially because, they were strong opponents. We kept our composure and played safe, consistent game to get the result,” added Mari.
Earlier in the morning, Goa’s Sandhya went down to Parul Rawat (Kerala) 21-16, 6-21, 11-21 in the singles final.
Parul, who has represented Delhi and Indian Railways in the past, was happy with the result. A singles specialist having been among the top-10 India women shuttlers in the past, Rawat started off erratically with the first game going in favour of Sandhya.
“I struggled for accuracy with my forcing shots a lot to begin with. But then I changed the strategy and made her move. I settled down, and was more composed,” said Rawat.
Sandhya, who had also won the singles and mixed doubles titles at the last masters national championship, was disappointed at the way she played in the singles final while her mixed doubles campaign suffered an unfortunate injury-enforced blow.
Although the accomplished Goan shuttler had won the first game, she couldn’t find her consistent touch, to close out the contest with Rawat staging a remarkable comeback.
“I conceded a lot of unforced errors in the second game, while an on-court injury injury in the decider was a setback. I was trailing 0-8 and it was hard to recover. I am disappointed in a way. It wasn’t my day!,” said the Margao-based shuttler.
Under the aegis of Badminton Association of India, the all-India tournament organised by Goa Badminton Association, served as the selection competition for the Indian Masters team in view of the upcoming BWF World Seniors Championships in Spain.
“My focus now will be on fitness with strength and conditioning being the area to stress along with the stroke-play,” remarked Sandhya looking forward to the World Championships Spain coming up in two months.
