Raghu, Mithun in title tussle

Bengaluru: The Karnataka Badminton Association was brimming with anticipation for the last semifinal match of the day. A big crowd had gathered to get behind home boy Raghu M who was taking on top-seeded Sathish Kumar K of Tamil Nadu in the men’s singles clash of the 86th National Badminton Championships.   

The opponents had recently met at the pre-quarterfinals of the Odisha Masters with Sathish scoring a narrow victory. But on Monday the Karnataka boy was in the mood to reverse that result while putting on a top show. 

Another close encounter was expected but Mandya’s Raghu, riding on the energy reverberating in the indoor hall, took less than 35 minutes to produce a dominating 21-17, 21-17 victory and march into the final.

“Since he is tall, I came prepared to be brave at the net to get good openings,” Raghu told DH after his win.  “He was the top seed and was the one under pressure. I took more risks and it paid off,” added the 26-year-old. 

In the final, Raghu will face his childhood friend Mithun Manjunath, who breezed past Chhattisgarh’s Rounak Chouhan 21-15, 21-13. 

The 26-year-old Mithun, the 2022 national champion who hails from Bengaluru but is representing Railways here, never allowed Rounak to settle in. Making good use of the conditions, Mithun was at his attacking best to go one step closer to another title.

“I have won this once before so I will play freely. I have never crossed the quarterfinal stage at any all-India level tournament at KBA since my junior days. So this is extremely satisfying,” expressed Mithun.    

Raghu and Mithun, who began their badminton journey at the PET Mandya courts as 10-year-old kids, are known for their showmanship. Their much-awaited duel for the trophy is sure to be an entertainer come Tuesday morning. 

The women’s semifinal saw 12th seed Shriyanshi Valishetty of Telangana power past her more fancied opponent 16th seed Tasnim Mir of Gujarat. After narrowly escaping with a 25-23 win in the first game, the 17-year-old Shriyanshi brought her A game in the second to grab it 21-13. 

Shriyanshi will face Haryana’s Devika Sihag, seeded 13th, in the summit clash. Devika hardly broke a sweat while downing Tamil Nadu’s Adarshini Shri NB 21-13, 21-10 in the other last-four contest. 

Results: Semifinals (prefix denotes seedings, Karnataka unless mentioned): Singles: Men: Mithun Manjunath (Rly) bt Rounak Chouhan (CG) 21-15, 21-13; Raghu M bt 1-Sathish Kumar K (TN) 21-17, 21-17.

Women: 13-Devika Sihag (Har) bt Adarshini Shri NB (TN) 21-13, 21-10; 12-Shriyanshi Valishetty (TS) bt 16-Tasnim Mir (Guj) 25-23, 21-13. 

Doubles: Men: 4-Naveen P/ Lokesh V (TN) bt Ashith Surya/ Vaibhav 17-21, 21-12, 22-20; Arsh Mohammad (UP)/ Sanskar Saraswat (Raj) bt Suraj Goala (Asm)/ Dhruv Rawat (Utr) 14-21, 21-18, 21-19.

Women: 3-Priya Devi Konjengbam (Mnp)/ Shruti Mishra (UP) bt Shikha Gautham/ Ashwini Bhat K 22-20, 16-21, 21-12; Arathi Sara Sunil (Ker)/ Varshini VS (TN) bt 2-Aparna Balan (PET)/ Simran Singhi (Mah) 21-17, 21-14.

Mixed doubles: 4-Rohan Kapoor (Dli)/ Ruthvika Shivani G (PET) bt Deep Rambhiya/ Akshaya Warang (Mah) 21-16, 21-17; Ayush Agarwal/ Shruti Mishra (UP) bt Shivam Sharma/ Poorvisha S Ram (RBI) 21-16, 21-19. 

Mithun Manjunath. DH PHOTO/ PUSHKAR V