Sarthak, Aditi-Nikkita enter final in State Sub-Junior Badminton Championship
June 30, 2018, Nagpur
NAGPUR: The impressive show by city shuttlers continued in the first Maharashtra Sub-Junior State Selection Badminton tournament, jointly organized by Jayesh Dhuri Badminton Academy Foundation and Brihanmumbai Kreeda aani Lalitkala Pratishthan under the auspices of MBA and MSDBA, at the Kalidas Mulund Sports Complex in Mumbai on Friday.
Sarthak Pakhmode stormed into the U-15 boys singles final, while Aditi Sadhankar and Nikkita Joseph rallied back strongly to topple the top seeds in the U-15 girls doubles semifinal to keep the city’s challenge alive on the penultimate day’s play in the six-day annual tournament.
Third seed Sarthak notched up two brilliant victories to clinch his place in the final. Sarthak thumped unseeded Mumbai Suburban’s Siddharth Bhuta 21-18, 21-13 in the quarterfinal in the morning session.
Later in the evening, Sarthak, a student of Centre Point School, Katol Road, stunned second seed Dhruv Thakore of Pune 21-19, 23-21 in an exciting semifinal.
Reigning Nagpur District U-15 boys singles champion Sarthak will now clash with top seed Darshan Pujari of Pune in the final on Saturday.
While it was a fabulous show in the singles, the city pair of Sarthak and Arav Fernandez went down fighting in the U-15 boys doubles semifinal. The unseeded pair of Arav and Sarthak surprised second seeds Atharva Joshi and Siddharth Bhuta 21-16, 21-16 in the quarters but in the semis they failed to overcome formidable duo of Darshan Pujari and Vardhan Dongre 15-21, 23-21, 15-21.
However, in the U-15 girls doubles, city pair of Aditi Sadhankar and Nikkita Joseph entered the final with an outstanding performance. Fourth seeds Aditi and Nikkita shocked top seeds Prutha Dekate and Riddhi Pudkey 13-21, 21-17, 21-13 in a marathon encounter.
Aditi and Nikkita will now lock horns with third seeds Rhucha Sawant and Riya Habbu of Pune in the summit clash on Saturday.
Siddhant Bawankar’s impressive run was halted by top seed Darshan Pujari 21-17, 8-21, 9-21 in the U-15 boys singles semis. The wiry youngster started off well and won the first game but he could not maintain his tempo and succumbed against the higher ranked player.
Similarly, Shashank Kulal also bowed out in the quarterfinal against Dhruv Thakore in straight games.
NAGPUR RESULTS
(Quarterfinals) U-15 girls singles: Aditi Sadhankar lost to Riya Habbu 11-21, 13-21.
U-15 boys singles: Siddhant Bawankar bt Mann Gajra 20-22, 21-11, 21-15; Sarthak Pakhmode bt Siddharth Bhuta 21-18, 21-13; Shashank Kulal lost to Dhruv Thakore 10-21, 15-21.
U-15 boys doubles: Arav Fernandez-Sarthak Pakhmode bt 2-Atharva Joshi-Siddharth Bhuta 21-16, 21-16.
(Semifinals) U-15 boys singles: 3-Sarthak Pakhmode bt 2-Dhruv Thakore 21-19, 23-21; Siddhant Bawankar lost to 1-Darshan Pujari 21-17, 8-21, 9-21;
U-15 girls doubles: 4-Aditi Sadhankar-Nikkita Joseph bt 1-Prutha Dekate-Riddhi Pudkey 13-21, 21-17, 21-13.
U-15 boys doubles: Arav Fernandez-Sarthak Pakhmode lost to Darshan Pujari-Vardhan Dongre 15-21, 23-21, 15-21.
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Tournament: 1st Maharashtra Sub-Junior State Selection Badminton Tournament
