Hiyan, Arnaaz walk away with U-11 badminton titles

Top seed Hiyan Yadav of the Sector 38 Sports Complex won the boys’ U-11 title by defeating Yakshith Rana 21-11 21-14 on the concluding day of the Chandigarh Mini, Junior and Senior State Badminton Championships. Arnaaz Kaur of Shivalik Academy won the girls’ title by defeating Pragun 21-12 21-7.

Ridhima Saini bagged the girls’ U-19 final by stunning top seed Jasmeet Kaur 23-21 21-14, while in the boys’ final, Rana Ruder Partap Singh defeated Suryansh Raghav 21-17 21-16. Top seed Rijul Saini won the women’s final by recording a comeback win over second-ranked Mahnoor Kaur. She went down 17-21 in the first game, but found her rhythm back with a 21-13 21-17 verdict.

In the men’s final, top seed Samarveer Sharma defeated Mohit Singh 21-17 8-21 21-14. The pair of Aayush Anand and Riaan Panchal beat top-ranked Ayaan Sharma and Hiyaan Yadav 21-18 21-13 to win the boys’ U-11 doubles final, while Arnaaz Kaur and Kaylin lost first set 17-21 before winning the next two 21-14 21-18 to defeat Pragun and Samridhi Kushwaha in the girls’ U-11 doubles title clash.

Raissa Bhanot and Ridhima Saini won the girls’ U-19 doubles by defeating Anu Priya and Vanshika 21-17 21-18, while the team of Rehaan Phutela and Vaibhav Giri overpowered Kushagr Bajaj and Nimit Pal 21-12 21-19 to win the boys’ U-19 doubles final.

In the women’s doubles final, Mahnoor Kaur and Nimar Kaur Virk ousted Anu Priya and Jasmeet Kaur 22-20 21-15, while Kevin Wong CC and Rijul Saini faced a tough resistance from Samarveer Sharma and Prakriti Kanwar before recording a 24-22 12-21 21-19 victory in mixed doubles final. In the mixed doubles U-19 final, Rana Rudra Partap Singh and Tanishka Nandal returned from a game down to defeat Suryansh Raghav and Raissa Bhanot 18-21 21-16 21-17, whereas in the men’s doubles final, Harikesh Verma and Mohit Sandhu won a neck-and-neck battle against Kevin Wong and Rehaan Phutela 23-21 23-25 21-11.

Ridhima player of the meet

Ridhima Saini, a trainee of Sector 38 Sports Complex, was awarded the player of the tournament trophy for winning the maximum finals. Over 300 players competed in 14 events of singles, doubles and mixed doubles events. Other trainees of Sector 38 Sports Complex, including Samarveer Sharma, Rijul Saini, Ridhima Saini, Rana Rudra Partap Singh, Hiyan Yadav and Arnaaz Kaur also won their respective finals. Chandigarh Badminton Association (CBA) office-bearers led by Geeta Aggarwal, Surinder Mahajan and Col Raj Parmar awarded the winners.