E-Paper
U-13 state badminton selection tournament: Shravani wins double crowns
Shravani Walekar from Nashik clinches girls’ singles and doubles titles.
Shravani Walekar, from Nashik, swept aside top-seed Raksha Kandasamy, from Borivali, in the semi-final and went on to beat second-seed Naishaa Bhatoye, from Greater Mumbai, in the final to be crowned the U-13 girls’ singles champion at the Yonex Sunrise Maharashtra under-13 and under-10 state selection tournament at the Modern Sports Complex in Pune, on Sunday.
Walekar also went on to win in the final of the doubles’ category later in the day. The top-seed team of Taarini Suri and Shravani Walekar defeated the second-seed team of Krisha Soni and Kunjal Mandlik 21-15, 21-16, in straight games.
Walekar was a tad bit shaky at the start of her final match as she conceded two easy points, but came back strong to take a 4-2 lead. Just as the teen looked like she was going to establish a commanding lead, several unforced errors tied the game just before the interval.
A slender one-point lead ensured that Walekar lead at the interval of the first game. A great rally between the youngsters ended with Walekar winning a crucial point as she gently dinked her shot over the net and into Bhatoye’s half.
Walekar propelled herself into a six-point lead and found herself four points away from winning the first game. A few nervy moments gave Bhatoye some points, but Walekar kept her cool to win the first game 21-14.
In the boys under-13 final, Sarvesh Yadav, from Thane, beat local boy Aditya Tripathi in straight games to win the singles crown.
It was a close encounter with just two points separating the duo at the end of the first game. Eventually, Yadav was able to give himself a comfortable lead towards the end of the final game as he ended up winning the match in straight games.
However, Yadav could not complete the double as him and his partner, Hrishikesh Jaydeokar, went down in the final of the under-13 doubles category against the second-seed team of Arjun Bhagat and Yashraj Kadam.
QUOTES:
Shravani Walekar (Winner girls’ singles & doubles): “I am very happy because this is my final year in the U-13 category. I lost to her [Bhatoye] last year today I defeated her. For the doubles, we had already beaten them (Soni and Mandlik) in Nagpur, so we were confident from the start.”
Sarvesh Yadav (Winner boys’ singles): “I played better than before and it’s good to see that I’m improving. My greatest strengths are accuracy and strokes, and I put them both to good use today.”
RESULTS
FINALS (Boys U-13)
Singles: Sarvesh Yadav bt Aditya Tripathi 22-20, 21-17
Doubles: Arjun Bhagat and Yashraj Kadam bt Hrishikesh Jaydeokar and Sarvesh Yadav 21-16, 21-14
(Girls U-13)
Singles: Shravani Walekar bt Naishaa Bhatoye 21-14, 21-13
Doubles: Shravani Walekar and Taarini Suri bt Krisha Soni and Kunal Mandlik 21-15, 21-16
