Badminton nationals: Raghu, Devika win singles titles

Karnataka’s M Raghu and Haryana’s Devika Sihag secured their maiden senior national badminton titles, emerging champions in the men’s and women’s sections, respectively, at the 86th edition of the tournament here on Tuesday.

Raghu, who won the Egypt international this year, saved three match points in the decider to beat former champion Mithun Manjunath 14-21 21-14 24-22 in the final that clocked just under an hour.

For Devika, it was a befitting end to a successful season as she ended the giant killing run of Shriyanshi Valishetty 21-15 21-16 in the women’s singles summit clash. The 19-year-old from Haryana had claimed the Swedish Open and Portugal International, besides reaching final at Estonian and Dutch International.

Junior national champions Arsh Mohammad and Sanskar Saraswat added the senior national title to their trophy cabinet as they upset top seeds Naveen P and Lokesh V 12-21 21-12 19-21 in the men’s doubles final.

In doubles categories, Ayush Agarwal and Shruti Mishra defeated eighth seeds Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani G 21-17 21-18 to bag the mixed doubles crown, while second seeds Arathi Sara Sunil and Varshini VS won the women’s doubles title with a 21-18 20-22 21-17 win over eighth seeds Priya Devi Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra.