Anup, Sajith in title clash, Trupti takes on Poonam

By Our Sports Reporter

KOZHIKODE, OCT. 7. Anup Sridhar, the top seed from Air India, overcame a lapse in concentration and a late challenge - a bit too late in fact - from Kerala's Sandip Louis to enter the junior boys' singles final of the Sonora all-India junior ranking prize- money badminton tournament at the V.K. Krishna Menon indoor stadium here on Saturday.

He won 7-0, 7-3, 8-7 but it was P.V. Sajith, his opponent for Sunday's final, who provided the excitement for the large crowd. In the junior girls' singles final, top seed Trupti Murgunde (Air India) will meet Poonam Walimbe (Maharashtra).

The second-seeded Sajith, playing at home, showed a lot of pluck and determination to defeat the formidable Saurav Singh of Air India, seeded fourth, 7-8, 7-2, 1-7, 8-7, 7-3 in an enthralling game which produced some fine rallies.

Later in the evening, three titles were decided in the lesser categories, as Ajay Jayaram of Maharashtra in the midget boys' singles, Prathik Patel of Gujarat in the mini boys' singles and Vinita Ghate in the mini girls' singles emerged champions.

lThe results:

Boys: junior singles (semifinals): Anup Sridhar (AI) bt Sandeep Louis (Ker) 7-0, 7-3, 8-7; P.V. Sajith (Ker) bt Saurav Singh (AI) 7-8, 7-2, 1-7, 8-7, 7-3.

Doubles (semifinals): Anup Sridhar & Saurabh Saboo (Ker) bt Pankaj Naik & Varun (Goa) 7-1, 7-5, 7-5.

Sub-junior singles (semifinals): Rohan Castilino (Kar) bt Utsav K. Prakash (Kar) 7-0, 7-3, 5-7, 7-3; Nishad Dravid (Mah) bt Sohan Gadgil (Mah) 6-8, 7-1, 7-2, 7-1.

Doubles (semifinals): Rohan Castilino & Utsav K. Prakash (Kar) bt Astik Biswas & Vijay Anand (Kar) 7-3, 7-0, 7-4. Quarterfinals: Utsav & Rohan bt Shyam Gopan & Tarun Sivadas (Ker) 7-0, 7-4, 7-2; Astik & Vijay bt Sasank A. Sastri & B.S. Phalgun 7-5, 7-3, 7-1; Nishad Dravid & Sohan Gadgil (Mah) bt Arjun Prasad & J. Keerthan (Ker) 7-0, 7-2, 7-2, 8-6; Ayyappan Krishnan & Tariq Mohammed (Ker) bt G.M. Nandish & Mohammed Haneef (Kar) 7-0, 7-2, 7-0.

Midget singles (final): Ajay Jayaram (Mah) bt Abhinand (Kar) 7-3, 7-2, 7-1.

Doubles (semifinals): G.M. Nandish & N.R. Darsan (Kar) bt Ajay Jayaram & Arun Menon (Mah) 5-7, 7-3, 7- 0, 7-0; Abhinand & B.S. Phalgun (Kar) bt Shankar Gopan & Sreejan (Ker) 6-8, 7-4, 8-6, 7- 1. Quarterfinals: Ajay & Arun bt Nalin Dubey & Kapil Dubey 7-0, 6-8, 7-3, 2-7, 7-4; Nandish & Darshan bt Ram C. Vijay & Nithin Rahman (Ker) 3-7, 7-3, 7-0, 7-3; Abhinand & Phalgun bt Swaminathan & Aditya Elango (TN) 7-2, 7-3, 7-3; Sankar & Sreejan bt S. Arjun & Akhil Rasheed (Ker) 7-1, 7-1, 7-3.

Mini singles (final): Prathik Patel (Guj) bt N. Arun (AP) 7-5, 3- 7, 7-4, 7-3.

Doubles (semifinals): Prathik Patel & Arun (AP) bt Sridhin & Neeraj Rahman (Ker) 7-2, 7-5, 7-5.

Girls: junior singles (semifinals): Trupti Murgunde (AI) bt Dhanya Nair (Mah) 7-0, 7-4, 7-0; Poonam Walimbe (Mah) bt Nikita (Mah) 8-6, 7-4, 3-7, 7-5.

Doubles (quarterfinals): Dhanya Nair & Mansi Bhave (Mah) bt Taryna Varghese & Susan Rajan (Ker) 7-4, 7- 4, 7-2; B.N. Aswini & Pooja Patel (Kar) bt Diva Arora & Poonam Walimbe (Mah) 8-6, 7-0, 7-2; Neema Lakshmi & Merit George (Ker) bt Aparna Balan & Sandhya (Ker) 7-0, 7-4, 7-1.

Sub-junior singles (semifinals): Susan Rajan (Ker) bt Aparna Balan (Ker) 4-7, 6-8, 7-5, 7-3, 7-2; Aditi Mutatkar bt Nithya (TN) 7-0, 7-3, 7-3. Quarterfinals: Susan bt M.V. Saritha (Kar) 7- 4, 7-3, 7-5; Nithya bt Neema Lakshmi (Ker) 7-3, 8-6, 7-1; Aditi bt Dhanya Nair (Mah) 7-0, 7-0, 7-4; Aparna bt Nikita (Mah) 7-3, 7-2, 7-5.

Doubles (quarterfinals): Aparna Balan & Susan Rajan (Ker) bt Neema Lakshmi & Priya Chandran (Ker) 7-1, 7- 1, 7-1; Dhanya Nair & Nikita (Mah) bt G.M. Nishitha & Madhuri Vijay (Ker) 7-3, 3-7, 7-2, 7-1; Admina Antony & Miral George (Ker) bt Aman Preet Kaur & Sandhya (Guj) 3-7, 7-3, 7-5, 6-8, 8-7.

Midget doubles (semifinals): Aditi Mutatkar & Shipra Goshray (Mah) bt Ruth Nisha & Yashaswini (Ker) 7-0, 7-0, 7-0; Geetanjali Bhosle & Neha Pandit (Mah) bt Suma Suresh & Sruthi (Ker) 7-0, 7- 0, 7-0.

Mini singles (final): Vinita Ghate (Mah) bt Surabhi S. Kadam (Guj) 2-7, 7-1, 7-3, 7-0.

Doubles (semifinals): Surabhi Kadam & IRD Sravani (Guj) bt Alice Cherian & Pooja (Ker) 7-0, 7-0, 7-0; Nikita Chadha & Vaishali Barlia (Guj) Vinita Ghate & Ruby (Mah) 7-5, 4-7, 7-3, 7-3.

Friday's results:

Boys'singles: junior (quarterfinals): Anup Sridhar (AI) bt V. Arun (Ker) 7-1, 7-1, 7-4; P.V. Sajith (Ker) bt Varun (Mah) 6-8, 7-4, 7-1, 7-5; Sandeep Louis (Ker) bt Lloyd Haridas (Ker) 7-0, 7- 0, 7-0; Gaurav Singh (AI) bt Akshay Thakkar (Mah) 7-4, 7-1, 7-2.

Mini (semifinals): Pratik Patel (Guj) bt N. Manikantan (TN) 7-0, 7-0, 7-1; N. Arun (AP) bt Neeraj Rahman (Ker) 7-1, 7-3, 7-1.

Girls' singles: junior (quarterfinals): Trupti Murgunde (AI) bt Aditi Biswas (Kar) 1-7, 7-2, 7-1, 7-5; Nikita (Mah) bt Aparna Balan (Ker) 7-0, 3-7, 7-5, 7-4; Dhanya Nair (Mah) bt Salini Prakash 7-5, 7-2, 7-3.

Mini (semifinals): Vinita Ghate (Mah) bt Vaishali Balia (Guj) 7- 1, 7-2, 7-2; Surabhi Kadam (Guj) bt Parvathi Suresh (Ker) 7-3, 7- 3, 5-7, 5-7, 7-4.

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