Top-seeds from under-17 and under-15 category – Girivasan Saravana Kumar, Hithaishree L. Rajaiah, Gnana Dattu T.T and Tanvi Reddy Andluri ensured their respective places in the quarter-finals of the ongoing Yonex-Sunrise All India Sub-Junior Ranking Badminton Tournament at Peddem Indoor Stadium, Mapusa. The last-eight stage and semi-finals will be held tomorrow (Thursday).
Organised by Goa Badminton Association under the aegis of the Badminton Association of India and in collaboration with the Sports Authority of Goa, the tournament witnessed fierce competition among budding badminton talents from across the nation who are battling for top honours and selection in the National Centre of excellence in Assam.
In the U15 boys singles pre-quarterfinals, Girivasan Saravana Kumar [1] was given a huge scare by Assam’s Arnav Protim Borgohain [Q] in an exciting duel that lasted for over 40 minutes.
While Girivasan banked on his powerpacked play to to win the first game 21-15, Borgohain bounced back by displaying composure at the net with better strokes as he took the second game 22-20. Girivasan seemed to have suffered from lapse in concentration and made more unforced errors to begin the decider. However with his coach egging him on, the confidence was back and the Telangana boy clinched the decider 21-17 to book a berth in the last-eight stage.
In the U15 girls section, Hithaishree L. Rajaiah [1] beat Shravani Biradar [Q] 21-12, 21-15; Tanvi Reddy Andluri [1] brushed aside the challenge of Haasana Sree Mallavarapu [Q] 21-11, 21-13 in U17 event to enter the quarter-finals.
In the U17 pre-quarterfinals, top seed Gnana Dattu T.T. [1] overcame a challenge from the fighting Bornil Akash Changmai [Q] 21-12, 22-20.
Meanwhile, Goa’s campaign at the national tournament reached its conclusion. Despite high hopes and determined efforts, Goa’s young talents faced tough challenges in their respective matches. Goa’s Aarush Pawaskar, along with his partner Yash Sinha from Maharashtra, ranked number 5 in India, showcased resilience but ultimately succumbed to Shyam Bindiganavile and Peeyush Tripathy from Karnataka in the U15 Boys Doubles (Round of 32), with a scoreline of 21-18, 21-13.
The journey for other players in the Main Draw also came to an end as they encountered formidable opponents. Shaheen C.K and Sufiya Shaikh (Goa) in Mixed doubles U17 (R32) lost 21-16, 21-12 to Manish S. Reddy and Deepak Raj Aditi of Karnataka. Jewel Abranches and Isha Borkar (Goa) suffered a defeat against Moitreyee Jana and Pratistha Paul from West Bengal in Girls Doubles U15 (R32) with a score of 21-5, 21-7.
Shane D’Souza and Arnav Saraf faced a setback in U15 Boys Doubles (R32), losing 21-9, 21-6 to Pushkar Sai (Karnataka) and Wazir Singh (Punjab). Similarly, Shaurya Naik and Om Nandanwar (Goa) bowed out in Boys Doubles U17 (R32), losing 21-10, 21-6 to A. Mishra (Chhatisgarh) and S. Vanlalhruaia (Mizoram).
Praveen Shenoy, Secretary of the Goa Badminton Association, expressed determination towards the future development of badminton in Goa. He stated, “In the next few years, we would like to see our players battling for Gold and not make early exits. We are taking sincere efforts in those directions to elevate the skills of our players and bring them on par with National standards. Besides working with our local coaches, plans are underway to bring in outstation coaches to Goa at frequent intervals, have more exchange programmes along with outstation players, commence a strong grassroots development program at various locations and work on having our own full-fledged centre of excellence in Goa which can groom champions. We will walk the extra miles to achieve these objectives.”
