Second seed Suveer Pradhan overcame a first game deficit to see off a tricky challenge posed by unseeded Kunal Rasal on day one of the Pune district badminton championships 2019 held at the PDMBA sports complex in Shivajinagar on Wednesday.
Pradhan won the contest by a 19-21, 21-2, 21-11 score in the boys’ under-15 singles event.
Pradhan held a four point lead at one stage before Rasal went on a run of six points to enjoy a two-point cushion – something he held on to and won the first set 21-19.
In the second, Pradhan dispatched his opponent off 21-2. At one stage, he held a 15-0 lead and it appeared that he could be eyeing a love game. That wasn’t to be, as Rasal managed to win two lucky points and give himself a bit of confidence going into the deciding game.
Much like the second, the third game too, began with Pradhan playing an aggressive brand of badminton. He played sensible strokes and kept his opponent on his toes until the very end. Eventually, Rasal seemed to give in as he stopped chasing the longer shots and instead opted to play closer to the net. This played right into the hands of the second seed as he attacked the loose strokes and comfortably won the game 21-11 to prevail to the next round.
“I am not happy with my performance, to be honest. I was very casual at the start and it cost me the first game. I also played a very passive game before moving to an aggressive style,” said Pradhan.
{{/usCountry}}“I am not happy with my performance, to be honest. I was very casual at the start and it cost me the first game. I also played a very passive game before moving to an aggressive style,” said Pradhan.
{{/usCountry}}“I made a lot of needless errors during crucial situations. Even my service was not up to the mark and I gave away many points easily. My drops were also not coming off perfectly. So, all in all, it was a very disappointing outing for me,” said Rasal.