Hosts drub Jalandhar to clinch trophy

Our Sports Correspondent

Ludhiana, November 13

Hosts Ludhiana faced a little resistance from Jalandhar before romping home victorious in the Junior Punjab Inter-District Badminton Championship (U-19) being held at Shastri Hall near Guru Nanak Stadium, here today.

In the final, Ludhiana shuttlers came out triumphant 3-0 to lay their hands on the winners’ trophy.

In the first match, Lakshay Singla of Ludhiana, in the boys’ singles, overpowered Anuj from Jalandhar in straight sets 21-15, 21-15 to put his side into the lead.

In the girls’ singles category, Prerna Dawar of Ludhiana consolidated the lead (2-0) as she defeated her opponent from Jalandhar, Parul Thakur 21-15, 21-19.

In the boys’ doubles section, the Ludhiana pair of Lakshay Singla and Mitaksh Gandhi, after some hiccups, managed to rattle the Jalandhar duo of Manmohitpreet Singh and Anuj.

In the first set, Ludhiana boys survived a scare before winning it 27-25. However, in the next set, Jalandhar players bounced back into the match, getting better of their rivals 21-13 to restore the parity one all.

In the deciding game, Jalandhar lads waged a spirited battle before going down narrowly 19-21 that also cost them the match and the title.

Earlier, in the semifinals, Ludhiana defeated Sangrur 3-0 (Lakshay Singla beat Rhitvik Mohanty 21-11, 21-11; Prerna Dawar beat Anmol 21-16, 21-11; Mitaksh Gandhi and Lakshay Singla beat Paramveer and Aatif Latif 21-5, 21-9), while Jalandhar prevailed over Patiala 3-1 (Parth Soni beat Amish Ralhan 24-22, 21-19; Mauilka lost to Vanshika Tandon 11-21, 14-21; Anuj Gupta and Manmohitpreet Singh beat Gurmeet Singh and Keshav 21-12, 21-11; Maulika Rajpur and Parul Thakur beat Ashmeet and Komal 21-6, 21-8).

Meanwhile, matches in the Open Junior Punjab Badminton Championship for Boys and Girls U-17 and U-19 categories began today. The finals are slated for November 16.