KBA honours State shuttlers

In recognition of their performances over the last year, the Karnataka Badminton Association felicitated its medal winners from the Sub-junior, Junior and Senior National Championships here on Wednesday.

Mithula U K and her doubles partner Ashwini Bhat K stole the limelight at the ceremony, thanks to a successful season in which they emerged triumphant in the under-17 and under-19 girls’ doubles category at the Junior Nationals at Jaipur last year.

The 15-year-old Mithula also clinched the under-19 mixed doubles silver with Balraj Kajla.

Speaking at the function, former National coach U Vimal Kumar stressed on the importance of hard work.

“You girls are right now playing under-19 and you need to continue with the same dedication and hard work. Your target should be playing in the Uber Cup in two years’ time,” he said.

Vimal also identified parental support as a vital cog in the success path and suggested that discussions with his ward Saina Nehwal’s mother would give people more clarity.

“Speak to Saina’s mother, that will give you an idea of the difficulties and sacrifices that are required to make your kids succeed. They faced a lot to bring Saina to this level and their journey began in Haryana and ended in Hyderabad.”

A cash prize of Rs 2,79,500 was presented to the awardees. Mithula and Ashwini received the maximum, collecting Rs 52,500 and Rs 40,000 respectively.

A special mention went out to Vineeth Manuel and Sanjeeth S for their participation at the All England Badminton Championships.

List of awardees: Senior Nationals:
Poorvisha S Ram (women’s doubles bronze); Junior Nationals: Ashwini Bhat (under-17, under-19 girls’ doubles gold), Mithula UK (under-17, under-19 girls’ doubles gold, under-19 mixed doubles silver), Balraj Kajla (under-19 mixed doubles silver); South Zone Championships: Hemanth Gowda (men’s singles gold), Apeksha Nayak (under-19 girls’ singles gold), Mahima Aggarwal (under-19 girls’ doubles and mixed doubles gold), Shikha Gautam (under-19 girls’ doubles gold), Daniel Farid (under-19 mixed doubles gold); Sub-junior Nationals: Trisha Hegde and Drithi Yatheesh (under-15 girls’ doubles gold), Tanya Hemanth and Kriti Bharadwaj (under-13 girls’ doubles gold).