Andhra Pradesh’s Guru Sai Dutt RMV, the top seed, will take on Madhya Pradesh’s Abhimanyu Singh in the final of the boys under-19 event in the sixth Union Bank of India all-India junior National-ranking badminton tournament on Saturday.
In the girls U-19 event, the final will be contested between Sikki Reddy of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka’s second-seeded Ruth Misha V. In the semifinals, Sikki upset Maharashtra’s top-seeded Arundhati Pantawane 21-17, 21-15, while Ruth beat State-mate Ashwini Ponnappa 21-7, 21-13.
Top-seeded Sikki also entered the final of the girls U-16 event and will take on Maharashtra’s Prajakta Sawant. AP’s Sai Praneeth B and Kerala’s Prannoy H S will clash in the boys U-16 final.
In the boys U-19 semifinal, Abhimanyu was faced with a tough opponent in Air India’s Arun Nandaluri but the former won 21-14, 21-12.
Maybe not necessarily in terms of skill but Arun’s court coverage was very good. Put the shuttle into any corner of the court and Arun would return it. It took meticulous placement and precise smashing from Abhimanyu to get past his rival.
It took a little time for Abhimanyu to get the hang of things in the first game but once into his rhythm, he breezed past Arun in the second game to book his berth in the title round.
In the second semifinal, Guru Sai defeated Chandigarh’s Oscar Bansal 21-23, 21-10, 21-18.
Results:
Boys: U-19: Semifinals: Guru Sai Dutt R M V (AP) bt Oscar Bansal (Chd) 21-23, 21-10, 21-18; Abhimanyu Singh (MP) bt Arun Nandaluri (AI) 21-14, 21-12. Quarterfinals: Guru Sai Dutt (AP) bt Saurabh Verma (MP) 21-9, 21-15; Oscar Bansal (Chd) bt Tarun Kona (AP) 21-15, 21-18; Abhimanyu (MP) bt Aditya R Prakash (Kar) 17-21, 21-13, 23-21; Arun Nandaluri (AI) bt Sai Praneeth (AP) 23-21, 21-12, 21-15.
Doubles: Semifinals: Guru Sai Dutt/ Tarun K (AP) bt Raj Kumar/ Pranav Chopra (Pun) 21-10, 21-10; Arun N (AI)/ Anil Kumar R (AP) bt Ram Vijay (ker)/ Suranjan Bhobora (Asm) 21-12, 21-17.
U-16: Semifinals: Sai Praneeth B (AP) bt Anurag Thakkar (MP) 21-12, 21-6; Prannoy H S (Ker) bt Sameer Verma (MP) 23-21, 21-10. Quarterfinals: Sai Praneeth B (AP) bt Bhaskar Chakraborty (Del) 21-11, 21-9; Anurag Thakkar (MP) bt Sunjith S (Ker) 21-9, 21-9; Prannoy (Ker) bt Sarang Lakhani (Mah) 21-10, 27-25; Sameer Verma (MP) bt Hirak Jyoti Neog (Asm) 21-18, 30-29.
Doubles: Semifinals: Raj Kumar/ Pranav Chopra (Pun) bt Hirak Jyothi (Asm)/ Anurag Thakkar (AP) 20-22, 21-19, 21-11; Sai Praneeth (AP)/ Prannoy (Ker) bt Sarang Lakhani/ Bishal Das (Mah) 21-12, 21-13.
Girls: U-19: Semifinals: Sikki Reddy N (AP) bt Arundhati Pantawane (Mah) 21-17, 21-15; Ruth Misha V (Kar) bt Ashwini Ponnappa (Kar) 21-7, 21-13. Quarterfinals: Arundhati Pantawane (Mah) bt Ankita Ashok (Kar) 21-10, 21-10; Sikki Reddy N (AP) bt Mudra Dahinje (Mah) 19-21, 21-9, 21-13; Ashwini Ponnappa (Kar) bt Nischitha G M (Kar) 21-17, 21-6; Ruth Misha V (Kar) bt Kadambari Chedda (Mah) 21-15, 21-18.
Doubles: Semfinals: Ashwini Ponnapa/ Nitya Sosale (Kar) bt Ankita Ashoka (Kar)/ Anuradha Shrikhande (Mah) 21-11, 21-8; Vaishali Baria (Guj)/ Prajakta Sawant (Mah) bt Shweta Kelkar/ Pradnya Gadre (Mah) 21-18, 21-13.
U-16: Semifinals: Sikki Reddy N (AP) bt Saee Purandhare (Mah) 21-11, 21-15; Prajakta Sawant (Mah) Sheshadri Sanyal WB 21-7, 11-3 conceded. Quarterfinals: Sikki Reddy N (AP) bt Sanyogita Ghorpade (Mah) 21-14, 21-13; Saee Purandhare (Mah) bt Jacqueline Rose Kunnath (Kar) 21-18, 12-21, 21-15; Shesahdri Sanyal (WB) bt Vijeta Bhargav (MP) 21-17, 21-14; Prajakta Sawant (Mah) bt Sindhu P V (AP) 22-20, 15-21, 21-7.
Doubles: Semifinals: Sikki Reddy/ Lavanya (AP) bt Suneri/ Kanthi Visalakshi (TN) 21-9, 21-17; Prajakta Sawant (Mah)/ Vijeta Bhargav (MP) bt Sanyogita/ Saee Purandhare (Mah) 21-18, 21-10.
