JOIN USPrannoy shock for Sumeet; Sikki clinches girls' crown
Unseeded Prannoy came from a game down to pull off a stunning 17-21, 21-18, 21-14 win over top seed Sumeet Reddy, while top seed Sikki staged a resilient show to take home the crown with a 14-21, 2-19, 21-13 comeback victory over the fifth- seeded Thulasi PC of Kerala.
Trivandrum boys Prannoy, inconspicuous for most of last year, came into the tournament without a ranking but had reason to fancy his chances against an opponent whom he has beaten twice in the past.
Sumeet’s aggressive approach and high intensity front court play won him matches en route to the final, but Prannoy’s knowledge of his doubles partner’s style of play gave him a distinctive advantage.
As the battle of the old foes unravelled, their tricks came to the open. Prannoy’s uncanny ability to find the open court fetched him a 5-1 lead.
Sumeet started pushing the shuttle to the back court after drawing his opponent forward with the drop to even things out at 9-9.
Prannoy tried to force Sumeet into coming forward and in the bargain committed a series of errors to hand his opponent the first game 21-17.
Prannoy surged into a 9-3 lead in the second game but Sumeet responded with an array of acute drops to narrow the score to 11-15.
Sumeet showed signs of weariness and Prannoy made the most of it with drops and smashes consistently to his left to take the game 21-19.
Prannoy played his naturally aggressive game in the decider to move into an early lead. A visibly tired Sumeet gave in to hand Prannoy a much deserved 21-13 win.
Top seeds Pratul Joshi of Madhya Pradesh and Sindhu PV of Andhra Pradesh triumphed in the under-16 boys and girls categories respectively with contrasting victories in the finals.
Results (all finals, prefix denotes seeding):
Boys’: U-19: Prannoy HS (Ker) bt 1-Sumeet Reddy (AP) 17-12, 21-18, 21-14.
Doubles: Pranav Chopra (AI)/ Sai Praneeth B (AP) bt Prannoy HS (Ker)/ Sumeet Reddy (AP) 21-12, 21-15.
U-16: 1- Pratul Joshi (MP) bt Rohit Yadav C (AP) 21-19, 13-21, 21-19.
Doubles: Arun George (Ker)/Santhosh Ravuri (AP) bt Chaitanya Reddy K/ Chaitanya KP (AP) 21-7, 21-13.
Girls’: U-19: 3-Sikki Reddy N (AP) bt 5-Thulasi PC (Ker) 14-21, 21-19, 21-13.
Doubles: Sikki Reddy N (AP)/ Thulasi PC (Ker) bt Jacqueline (Kar)/ Prajakta Sawant (Mah) 21-17, 21-11.
U-16: 1-Sindhu PV (AP) bt 5-Arathi Sara Sunil (Ker) 21-12, 21-16.
Doubles: 1-Maneesha/ Sindhu PV (AP) bt 3-Minti Kaur/ Riya Pillai (Mah) 21-17, 21-17.