Sushant Chipalkatti memorial badminton tournament: Aakarshi beats out Malvika to claim maiden title
Earlier in the year, the duo had clashed at the Khelo India school games badminton final, where Malvika defeated Aakarshi 21-12, 21-10 to claim the gold medal.
Keeping a constant offensive approach from the first minute of the match helped Aakarshi Kashyap clinch the girls’ title of the Yonex sunrise India junior grand prix international badminton championship, wherein she defeated Malvika Bansod 21-13, 21-19. The Raipur-based girl hardly looked in trouble as she wrapped up the contest in 37 minutes at the Modern sports complex on Sunday.
Earlier in the year, the duo had clashed at the Khelo India school games badminton final, where Malvika defeated Aakarshi 21-12, 21-10 to claim the gold medal.
“We have played against each other eight times and I have lost only on two occasions. At the Khelo India School Games, I was not acclimatised to the courts while here I got used to the conditions early,” said Aakarshi, who is currently ranked No 1 in the Junior Under-19 list released by the Badminton Association of India.
The contest started on an equal note with both the players stealing points with their accurate shots. Later, Aakarshi mixed her shots to go into break with a 11-6 scoreline.
Aakarshi kept pushing her strokes to the service line which Malvika failed to collect and ended up giving easy points to lose the first game 21-13. “I was targeting her backhand, and as she was making many unforced errors so I tried to push her at the service line, which gave me easy points,” said Aakarshi.
In the second game, Malvika opened up nicely to take a 3-1 lead, but could not keep the momentum as furious returns and cross-court smashes from Aakarshi kept the scoreline neck to neck.
The accurate net game allowed Aakarshi to move ahead with 16-10. With Malvika struggling to keep the shuttle inside the court, it was all going Aakarshi’s way, but Malvika came hard and started to play her ace game.
With scoreline reading 18-all, it was pressure on junior no 3 Malvika to control the proceedings, but she lost the point on the sideline and it opened up the game for Aakarshi who sealed the contest with a 21-19 victory.
“I was not patient, which cost me the match. She (Aakarshi) was engaging me in the long rallies and I should have held on with patience, but I could not do that today,” said Malvika after the match.
Rumbay wins boys’ title
Top-seeded Ikhsan Leonardo Imanuel Rumbay defeated Christian Adinata 21-13, 21-14 to claim the boy’s title in 35 minutes.
The tournament is organised in the memory of former badminton player Sushant Chipalkatti.
Results:
Girls: Aakarshi Kashyap bt Malvika Bansod 21-13, 21-19
Doubles: Metya Inayah Cindiani and Febby Valencia Dwijayanti Gani bt 2-Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Ribka Sugiarto 21-19, 21-19
Boys: Ikhsan Leonardo Imanuel Rumbay bt Christian Adinata 21-13, 21-14
Doubles: Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin bt 2-Ghifari Anandaffa Prihardika and Pramudya Kusumawardana Riyanto 21-12, 21-14
Mixed doubles: Pramudya Kusumawardan Riyanto and Ribka Sugiarto bt Leo Rolly Carnando and Metya Inayah Cindiani 21-16, 21-12.
Road to the trophy:
Aakarshi Kashyap (Ind)
Final: bt Malvika Bansod (Ind) 21-13, 21-19.
Semi-final: bt 5-Xi XuanEoon (Mas) 16-21, 21-12, 21-17.
Quarter-final: bt Unnati Bisht (Ind) 23-21, 21-14.
Pre-quarter final: bt Pornpicha Choeikeewong (Tha) 21-14, 21-5.
First round: bt Putri Kusuma Wardani (Ina) 21-19, 13-21, 21-16.
Box 2:
Last three year winners
Girls:
2017: Chaiwan Pattarasuda (Tha)
2016: Natsuki Nidaira (Jpn)
2015: Gadde Ruthvika Shivani (Ind)
Boys:
2017: Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha)
2016: Pachaarapol Nipornram (Tha)
2015: Lakshya Sen (Ind)
Quotes:
Aakarshi Kashyap
I had got a tough draw since the first match. In the opening match, I faced Indonesian player Putri Kusuma Wardani, who had defeated Asian Junior World No 1 player recently, so I faced tough matches since then.
Malvika Bansod
We have played many times together, so we know each other’s strong and weak points and today, I was prepared to win, but could not play properly.
Special Box
Who was Sushant Chipalkatti?
Yonex sunrise India junior grand prix international badminton championship is a tournament organised in the memory of former badminton player Sushant Chipalkatti. Sushant was one of the most promising badminton players of the country, who died in a train accident in Mumbai on September 13, 1996.
The Pune-based player started playing badminton at the age of eight and from then, he never looked back.
“If he was there today, he could have won a medal for India,” said Ajit Chipalkatti, Sushant’s father in an exclusive interaction with Hindustan Times.
“He was very meticulous about his physical fitness and never missed his fitness schedule,” added Chipalkatti, who with the help of the Natu family and Laxmi Krida Mandir Club, Pune, is running this tournament since 1997.
“First it was a state-level tournament, then, it became a national tournament and now, it is an international tournament. I am happy that the tournament is running smoothly. I want to thank Girish Natu (tournament director) who is like a friend to me. I just wanted to give a tribute to Sushant and that’s why we started this tournament. We wish that this tournament will help youngsters become great badminton players in the future,” added Chipalkatti.
Sushant’s achievements:
Born: July 12, 1980
1992: District state and national champion
1994: School games gold medallist
1995: Won Krishna Khaitan Trophy
Quarterfinalist in Prince Asian Championship, Hong Kong
Clinched three doubles crowns in district, state and national championships
1996: Died September 13