All-India Masters Ranking Badminton Tournament: Haryana’s Geetanjali moves into next round
Haryana’s Geetanjali Munjaal defeated Delhi’s Garima Bedi in straight games 21-12 21-8 to march ahead in the women’s 40+ category on the opening day of the All-India Masters Ranking Badminton Tournament 2025 being played at Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula.
Maharashtra’s Poonam Gandhe also moved into the next round by defeating Geetha M 21-2 21-9, while Sarada Devi H ousted Rajasthan’s Tanu Narang 21-4 21-3. Mizoram’s Lalduhzuali beat Delhi’s Nidhi Kumar 21-13 21-9 and Pinal Patel also moved ahead in the competition by defeating Padmini Pidaparthi 23-21 14-21 21-16. Sandhya M of Goa beat Kerala’s Sumi Nadarajan 21-8 21-7.
In the men’s 40+ qualifying round, TS Bisht of Uttar Pradesh defeated Lalit Kumar 21-15 21-19 and Delhi’s Ashish Mishra ousted Vikas Khabrani of Rajasthan 21-7 21-10. Mayank Behal also moved into the next round by defeating Azmeera Gandhi Nayak 21-9 21-12, followed by a 21-19 21-10 win by Akash Walia over Karnataka’s Ashish Chauhan. Arup Baidya of West Bengal defeated Haryana’s Bijit Pawe 21-11 21-5 and Somesh Singh Lama of Chhattisgarh overpowered Sumit Sharma 21-18 21-10. Achariar R Dev defeated Sunil Ratiwal 21-10 21-11 and Ganesh Singh Bista overpowered Amit Sharma 21-19 21-13.
In the men’s 35+ event, Kaushik Pal of West Bengal cleared first qualifying round by defeating Amrik Singh 21-3 21-1 and Ashok Velavalapalli of Andhra Pradesh recorded a comeback 19-21 22-20 21-6 win over Haryana’s Mukesh. Mohsin Sumra of Gujarat also marched into the next round by defeating Haryana’s Manish Dhuliya 15-21 21-9 22-20 in an identical manner, while Shibu Mehta of Rajasthan defeated Nitin Kulhan of Uttarakhand 21-8 21-11. Jaswinder Singh defeated Amit Hooda 21-10 21-4, Apparao S ousted Naviin Prasad 21-18 21-11, Anand Budh Sharma outplayed Dishant Chandel 21-9 21-11 and Udit Karol defeated Dinesh Chhikara 21-12 21-18 in some other matches.
In the women’s 35+ event, Monika Dhillon defeated Rachana Jayasankar 21-9 21-9 and Tejasvi Pilankar defeated Haryana’s Khushi 21-10 21-4. Sonal Jagdale also moved ahead in the category by defeating Noopur Barve 21-13 21-16 and Haryana’s Manju ousted Pooja Negi 21-12 21-11. Shilpi Rana also moved into the next round by defeating Rupali Varshney 21-14 21-15. As many as 752 participants from all over country are participating in the tournament under various ager groups including, 35+,40+ , 45+,50+,55+ , 60+,65+,70+ and 75+ .
Players felicitated
The Haryana Badminton Association honoured the state women’s team with a cash prize of Rs. 5.5 lakh for winning the National Women’s Championship. Also, the association honoured Devika Sihag of Panchkula with a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh for winning women’s single title in the National Championships.
