Anupama Upadhyaya of Panchkula wins Kazakhstan International Challenge

Panchkula, April 10

Anupama Upadhyaya of Panchkula won the Kazakhstan International Challenge women’s singles title, in Uralsk. The local shuttler, who is ranked 70th in the world, defeated fellow Indian Isharani Baruah, ranked 90th, in straight games 21-15 21-16 to clinch the title.

This was Anupama’s second successive title in 2024. In March, she had won Polish Open in Warsaw by beating Tanya Hemanth in a gruelling three-gamer. Earlier, in the championship, Anupama defeated fifth seed Tereza Svabikova of Czech Republic in the pre-quarterfinals, and, later defeated another Panchkula player, Devika Sihag, in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, she got better off Japan’s Sorano Yoshikawa, who had defeated Anmol Kharb in the quarterfinal, in straight games. Anupama recorded a close 24-22 21-16 win over Sorano. In her quarterfinals against Devika, a student of Chitkara University, Anupama had to struggle hard.

While Devika won the first game 23-21, Anupama managed to bounce back in the second. Anupama won the second game by whisker 27-25, and continued her form in the final game before logging a 21-18 victory. The clash lasted for 1.15hours. In the qualifying rounds, Anupama defeated Harshitaa Rout 21-13 21-13 and Tereza Svabikova 18-21 21-14 21-14.