Unnati sets final date with Aditi

Tribune News Service
Panchkula, August 17

Top seed Unnati Bisht rallied from a game down to beat eighth seed Tasnim Mir of Gujarat in the girls’ U-19 semifinals at the 28th Smt Krishna Khaitan Memorial All-India Junior Badminton Tournament at Tau Devi Lal Stadium here today. The Uttarakhand shuttller prevailed 18-21 21-7 21-10.

In the final, Unnati will face state-mate Aditi Bhat. The sixth seed overcame seventh seed Aashi Rawat of Delhi 21-15 14-21 21-16 in the last-four contest. 

Earlier, in the quarterfinals, Unnati registered a 21-16 21-16 Sneha Rajwar, also from Uttarakhand, while Aditi dumped Haryana’s Sakshi Gahlawat 21-17 21-17. Tasnim stunned third seed Mansi Singh of Uttar Pradesh 18-21 21-17 21-16 and Aashi upset fourth seed Smit Toshniwal of Maharashtra 10-21 21-16 21-18. 

Sathish in final 

In the boys’ singles competition, second seed Sathish Kumar of Tamil Nadu beat state-mate and seventh seed Sankar Muthusamy S to seal a spot in the finals. Sathish won 17-21 21-15 21-17. 

Earlier, in the quarterfinals, Sathish downed Manipur’s Bidyasagar Salam 21-5 21-11, while Sankar edged out third seed Sai Charan Koya of Air India 21-18 18-21 21-9.    

Top seed Maisnam Meiraba of Manipur downed eighth seed Sarath D of Andhra Pradesh in the quarterfinals and Rohan Gurbani of Air India registered a 21-11 21-11 win over Karnataka’s Bhargav S. 

In the boys’ U-19 doubles quarterfinals, top-seed Manipur pair of M Khwairakpam and D Konthoujam beat seventh seeds Kush Chugh and Nithin HV 21-13 17-21 21-13, while Y Raikwar and I Sonowal stunned fourth seeds S Udayakumar and his namesake 21-15 19-21 21-8. Edwin Joy and Aravind V Suresh of Kerala upset second seeds I Bhatnagar and VP 11-21 21-19 21-19.

Third seed Telangana pair of N Bokka and Q Mohammed rallied to beat A Doddavarapu and VV 15-21 21-16 22-20.