Raghu wins battle of buddies at Senior National Badminton Championships

Bengaluru: There was little to differentiate between the two Kannada-speaking shuttlers in the men’s final of the 86th Senior National Badminton Championships here. 

The two childhood friends - Raghu M and Mithun Manjunath - who began their journey in the sport together as 10-year-olds, know each other's game like their own. And on Tuesday, in an evenly contested duel between the 26-year-old players, Raghu managed to hold his nerve a tad bit better to emerge champion at the Karnataka Badminton Association. 

After enduring an error-ridden start and facing three match points in the end, Raghu kept his composure at crucial moments to secure a come-from-behind 14-21, 21-14, 24-22 victory. Raghu became only the second Karnataka man after Prakash Padukone in 1979 to lift the premier domestic title in the men’s singles section. 

On a fast court, which favours the duo’s aggressive play, the one with a sharp net game was going to hold the advantage. It was the Mandya boy, who trains at the Yadav Pro Badminton Academy (YPBA) in the city, who took to the front court early on, but Bengaluru’s Mithun had come with well-planned answers.

The first game swung Mithun’s way before Raghu upped the pace of play in the second to take the final to the decider. By now, both players had warmed-up to each other’s ploy. While Raghu used a stronger defence and flick serve to catch his opponent off guard, Mithun employed half-smashes and deceptive drops to bring in an element of surprise. 

However, it was Mithun, the world no. 80, who got closer to the finish line by taking a 19-16 lead. But Raghu, ranked 107, won three points in a row to make it 19-19. The next few exchanges saw Mithun earning three match points before Raghu hit back each time to close out the duel 24-22 on his first match point. 

“There were some great points exchanged between us and we were enjoying ourselves. Though we were not shouting or celebrating out of respect, it was a competitive match,” said Raghu after the win. 

Earlier, in the women’s singles final, Haryana’s Devika Sihag got the better of Telangana’s Shriyanshi Valishetty 21-15, 21-16 to be crowned champion. 

Results: Final (prefix denotes seeding): Singles: Men: Raghu M (Kar) bt Mithun Manjunath (Rly) 14-21, 21-14, 24-22.

Women: Devika Sihag (Har) bt 12-Shriyanshi Valishetty (TS) 21-15, 21-16.

Doubles: Men: Arsh Mohammad (UP)/  Sanskar Saraswat (Raj)/  Naveen P/ Lokesh V (TN) 21-12, 12-21, 21-19.

Women: Arathi Sara Sunil (Ker)/ Varshini VS (TN) bt 2-Priya Devi Konjengbam (Mnp)/ Shruti Mishra (UP) 21-18, 20-22, 21-17.

Mixed doubles: Ayush Agarwal/ Shruti Mishra (UP) bt Rohan Kapoor (Dli)/ Ruthvika Shivani G (PET) 21-17, 21-18.