NAVELIM: Yonex-Sunrise All India Sub-Junior Ranking Badminton Tournament 2022 will commence on Saturday, July 23, at Manohar Parrikar indoor stadium here in South Goa. A record number of around 3700 shuttlers have entered the eight-day competition, consisting of the qualification rounds before Main Draw takes the centre stage.
Goa Badminton Association is organising the second of the back-to-back tournament, which succeeds the just-concluded Junior (U-19) ranking event, under the aegis of Badminton Association of India, and in collaboration with North Goa District Badminton Association and the Sports Authority of Goa.
Sanskar Saraswat of Rajasthan headlines the Boys U17 field as the top seed. Although Kerala’s Andrea Sarah Kurien is seeded No 1 in the Girls singles category, all eyes will be on U19 singles champion Unnati Hooda, who is the 4th seed. Some of the best players seen in U19 event to be the part of the U17 field are Jiya Rawat (7th seed), Aalisha Naik (8) and Samayara Panwar (10).
Sanskar, meanwhile, comes into the sub-junior tournament here after a narrow defeat in the Yonex-Sunrise 29th Smt Krishna Khaitan All-India Junior (U-19) singles and doubles final. Sanskar who was seeded 7 in the U-19 event here, had however, lost in the first round to Ginpaul S, who came through the qualifying stage into the main draw. Ginpaul S is seeded seventh in the U17 Main Draw.
Following players / pairs have received the top 2 seedings in the National Sub-Junior Ranking Tournament:
BS U15 – Suryaksh Rawat (1), Prateek Koundilya (2); GS U15 – Naishaa Kaur Bhatoye (1), Anwesha Gowda (2); BS U17 – Sanskar Saraswat (1), Numair Shaik (2); GS U17 – Andrea Sarah Kurien (1), Aishani Tiwari (2),Mixed Doubles U15 – Ritom Howbora / Bhavishya Changmai (1), Suryaksh Rawat / Aanya Bisht (2); BD U15 – Bjorn Jaison / Aathish Sreenivas P.V. (1), Showrya Kiran J./ Gnana Dattu T.T.(2), GD U15 – Medhavi Nagar / Baruni Parshwal (1), Tanvi Reddy Andluri / Durga Isha Kandrapu (2); XD U17 – Bhargav Ram Arigela / Pragati Parida (1), Rajdev Tomar / Akshita Manral (2); BD U17 – Nicholas Nathan Raj / Tushar Suveer (1), Gagan / Ankit Malik (2), GD U17 – Palak Arora / Unnati Hooda (1), Vennala K./ Navya Kanderi (2).
“The stage is set for a super thrilling and exciting Sub Junior National ranking tournament. The elite tournament will feature the best young talents from across India and we have received record number of around 3700 entries – the highest ever in India. Manohar Parrikar Indooor stadium at Navelim will be the main venue for the tournament but given the large number of entries, we have added one more venue for the Qualifying matches at Fatorda. There will be four and half days of qualifying rounds which will commence on July 23 and will conclude on July 27 (morning session). Main Draws will commence on July 27 in the afternoon session and finals will be held on July 30 which will be telecast live on Goa Doordarshan”, stated Sandeep Heble, the Goa Badminton Association Secretary. There will be approximately 175 Goa entries, added Heble.
