Former All England Open winner and illustrious coach Pullela Gopichand’s 14-year-old daughter Gayatri Gopichand Pullela won the under-19 singles event of the 26th Krishna Khaitan All-India Junior Ranking Badminton Tournament held in Chandigarh on Sunday.
Gayatri representing her home state Telangana defeated top seed Purva Barve, 17, of Maharashtra in a keenly contested match 21-18, 23-21 to lift the title.
In the first game, Gayatri was leading 11-1, but Purva fought back and tied the match 15 each. Showing composure Gayatri concentrated on placement and won the game 21-18. In the second game, both the opponents were neck-and-neck and played attacking game.
If Gayatri was solid in drops, Purva countered with her better court coverage to extend the second game into tiebreaker. Gayatri sealed the game 23-21 and wrapped the final in 40 minutes.
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Twenty six years ago, in the inaugural edition (1991) of the same tournament, Gayatri’s mother PVV Lakshmi, former national champion, won the juniors’ singles title.
{{/usCountry}}Twenty six years ago, in the inaugural edition (1991) of the same tournament, Gayatri’s mother PVV Lakshmi, former national champion, won the juniors’ singles title.
{{/usCountry}}At that time the tournament used to be held in Chennai and for the last five-six years it has been shifted to Chandigarh. “She (Gayatri) had already won two tournaments in under-17 category this year, so we thought of trying in the U-19 age group. Happy that she has won,” said Gayatri’s mother Lakshmi.
Earlier in the semifinals, Gayatri defeated sixth seed Malvika Bansod in a marathon match 9-21, 22-20, 21-11 stretching to almost one hour.
Results: (Final)
Girls’ U-19 Singles: Gayatri Pullela Gopichand (TS) bt Purva Barve (MAH) 21-18, 23-21.
Girls’ U-17 Singles: Malvika Bansod (MAH) bt Ritika Thaker (MAH) 21-7, 21-14.
Boys’ U-19 Singles: Aman Farogh Sanjay (MAH) bt Abhishek Saini (HAR) 21-14, 21-18.
Boys’ U-17 Singles: Aakash Yadav (DLI) bt Iman Sonowal (ASM) 21-16, 12-21, 21-16.