Resilient Jacqueline wins title

Mohit to lock horns with Sunil in mens final; Prakash in title round

The exciting summit clash between two Jain College students ended with Jacqueline posting a 21-11, 14-21, 21-18 victory in 53 minutes.

Uttara, who beat Saumya Padhye in the semifinal on Wednesday, was the agile of the two finalists but Jacqueline held her own with drops and powerful smashes.

However, Uttara squandered a good start to hand Jacqueline 11-5 lead. The 17-year-old Jacqueline, who strolled into the final after Adfa Taqui retired hurt in her last four match, showed good aggression with powerful smashes.

The second seed stood out with her ability to produce delicate drops. Jacqueline then went on to clinch the first game 21-11. Uttara fought back with good placements and the ploy worked as she rushed to a 11-4 lead in the second game.

Uttara kept her opponent on the baseline giving no chance to Jacqueline to unleash her smashes. The fourth seed took the second game 21-14 to level the scores. In the deciding set, Jacqueline jumped to an early lead at 8-4. Uttara came back strongly to tie the game at 11-11 and even managed to take a one-point lead at 17-16.  Jacqueline, however, held her nerves to hit a series of smashes to seal the title win. Jacqueline stayed on course to claim a double with her making it to the junior girls’ final where she will meet Poorvisha S Ram. In the men’s title round, Mohit Kamat take on Sunil D Verma, who will meet Prakash Jolly in the junior boys’ final as well.

Results: Men (semifinal): Mohit Kamat bt BS Phalgun 21-16, 21-7; Sunil D Verma bt Prakash Jolly 14-21, 21-15, 21-14.

Junior boys (semifinal): Prakash Jolly bt Kamaldeep Singh 21-15, 21-15; Sunil D Verma bt Abhishek Yeligar 21-12, 12-21, 21-18.

Doubles (quarterfinal): Guruprasad/ Vineet Manuel bt P Khurana/ S Verma 21-10, 18-21, 21-13; Jeevan/ Sanjeeth bt A Pradhan/ Irshad Khan 21-19, 21-12; Ajitwijetilekk/ H Shah bt N Kamath/ Rishiket 21-13, 23-25, 21-7; M Kamat/ Venkatesh bt Adarsh/ Jagadish Y 21-15, 21-12.

Women (final): Jacqueline Rose Kunnath bt Uttara Prakash 21-11, 14-21, 21-18.
Junior girls (semifinal): Poorvisha S Ram bt Vaishnavi Iyer 21-19, 21-17; Jacqueline Rose Kunnath bt Reshma Karthik 21-10, 21-12.