Ludhiana: Over 300 shuttlers vie for glory as state c’ship begins

Viren Seth, Vakul Sharma, and Naksh Verma advanced with byes, while Harshdeep Singh, Himansh Dhiman, and Hemant Kumar progressed through walkovers

More than 300 players are competing for top honours as the Punjab State Junior (U-19) and Senior Badminton Championship commenced at Shastri Badminton Hall on Friday. Organised by the Badminton Association of Ludhiana, the four-day tournament will run until November 2.

A players in action during the event at Shastri Badminton Hall in Ludhiana on Friday. (Manish/HT)

Deputy commissioner Himanshu Jain inaugurated the championship. The opening day witnessed several keenly contested matches in the men’s singles category as participants battled intensely for a place in the next round.

Viren Seth, Vakul Sharma, and Naksh Verma advanced with byes, while Harshdeep Singh, Himansh Dhiman, and Hemant Kumar progressed through walkovers.

Deepinder Singh defeated Prince Chawla 15-9, 15-13, while Manavdeep Singh overcame a stiff challenge to beat Lokesh 15-12, 15-17, 16-14. Harshbir Singh Brar recorded a comfortable win against Basant at 15-6, 15-3, and Ravijot Singh triumphed over Shivam Puri 15-10, 15-12. Kulpreet Singh Gill defeated Angad Sachdeva 15-5, 17-15, and Yuvraj Sharma got the better of Naman Dogra 15-6, 15-10.

Angadjeet Singh Bhullar beat Shubham Sharma 15-2, 15-13, while Sujal Singla bounced back after dropping a game to defeat Ayush 12-15, 15-5, 15-12. Aditya Sharma overcame Harshpreet Singh 15-5, 15-10, and Ashu Kumar defeated Vishal Saini 15-8, 15-11. Aryan Chopra outplayed Harnaman Singh 15-6, 15-6, and Sawrajpal Singh brushed aside Vikrant Bhatti 15-6, 15-5.

Ritvik Mohanty defeated Karan Arora 15-8, 15-3, and Nikhil Mahant edged past Karanjeet Singh in a thriller at 13-15, 15-12, 15-13. Armaan Mehta beat Dushant Kumar 15-7, 15-10, while Danish Bhanot defeated Akshay Sharma 15-6, 15-6. Birdavinder Singh overcame Harpinder Singh 15-10, 15-13, and Sargun Singh defeated Tejas Patni 15-11, 11-15, 15-7.

Achyut Sharma beat Anirudh Gilhotra 15-12, 19-17, and Geetansh Sharma outperformed Mridul Jha 15-10, 15-7. Rishab Rampal overcame Anshnoor Bhutani 15-7, 15-2, while Lovejeet Singh Josan defeated Taksh Duggal 15-9, 15-8. Anish Bhardwaj breezed past Gurshaan Singh 15-5, 15-2, and Arshdeep Singh battled hard to defeat Gurwinder Singh 14-16, 15-12, 15-10.

Aditya Batta edged past Divey Shingari 15-11, 10-15, 16-14, and Arnav Thakur defeated Jaspreet Singh 15-10, 15-6. Rudraksh Kashnia beat Ranbir 15-11, 15-12, Kumar Shaurya Khanna overcame Harnoor Singh 15-8, 18-16, and Kartike Sood got the better of Ayaan Kakar 15-11, 13-15, 15-11.