The Hindu : Saina's remarkable run continues

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 26, 2002

Sport

Sport - Badminton

Saina's remarkable run continues

GUNTUR NOV. 25. Unseeded, 13-year-old Saina Nehwal of AP inched one step closer to picking her maiden junior title when she swept aside the challenge of her Statemate and fourth-seeded B. Srilakshmi 11-3, 11-6 to move into the girls final of the 27th junior National badminton championship for boys and girls held at the NTR Municipal Indoor Stadium here on Mondday.

Saina essayed her trademark forehand smashes complementing with excellent court coverage to give very little room for her opponent in posting what turned out to be a fairly comfortable win.

In the other semifinal, top-seeded Krishna Deka Raja took her appointed place with a clinical 11-4, 11-0 win over Dhanya Nair of Maharashtra.

The boys' semifinals went according to plan, as the top seed Rohan Castelino of Karnataka and second-seeded Bahiniman Bohra (Assam) set up a title-clash with easy wins. Castelino put it across Anshuman Hazarika of Assam 15-9, 15-6, while Bohra outplayed fourth-seeded T. Dinesh 15-5, 15-2.

The results: Boys: Semifinals: Rohan Castelino (Kar) bt Anshuman Hazarika (Asm) 15-9, 15-6; Bahiniman Bohra (Assam) bt T. Dinesh (AP) 15-5, 15-2. Quarterfinals: Castelino bt Anand Pawar (Mah) 15-4, 10-15, 15-12; Hazarika bt B. Kiran Kumar (AP) 15-8, 15-7; Dinesh bt Utsav Prakash (Kar) 15-10, 12-15, 15-11; Bohra (Asm) bt Sagar Chopra (Mah) 15-9, 2-15, 15-8.

Doubles: Semifinals: Vineet Manuel/Sandeep Luiz (Ker) bt Mayank Behl/Sahil Arora (Pnb) 15-6, 15-10; Amar Mohite/Sagar Chopra (Mah) bt P. Sarat Chandra/Jayan James (AP) 15-2, 15-6. Quarterfinals: Vineet Manuel/Sandeep Luiz (Ker) bt Maneesh Rawat/Balbeer Rawat (Dli) 15-10, 15-10; Mayank Behl/Sahil Arora (Pnb) bt T. Dinesh/B. Kiran Kumar (AP) 15-12, 15-9; P. Sarat Chandra/Jayan James (AP) bt Savan Navas (Ker)/Parag Tulpule (Maha) 15-12, 11-5, 15-5.

Girls: Semifinals: Krishna Deka Raja (Asm) bt Dhanya Nair (Mah) 11-4, 11-0; Saina Nehwal (AP) bt B. Srilakshmi (AP) 11-3, 11-6. Quarterfinals: Deka Raja bt Ridi Razwani (Mah) 11-7, 11-4; Dhanya bt Sampada Sahasra Budde (Mah) 11-8, 5-11, 11-9; Srilakshmi bt Neha Pandit (Mah) 11-9, 1-11, 11-8; Saina bt Aditi Mutatkar (Mah) 11-1, 11-4.

Doubles: Semifinals: Deepti Priyadarshini (AP)/Deepti Shalini (AP) bt Sonal More/Neha Rani (Mah) 11-5, 11-2; B. Srilakshmi/T. Sowmya (AP) bt Abantika Deka/Rimi Hazarika (Asm) 11-9, 11-6. Quarterfinals: Deepti Priyadarshini/Deepti Shalini bt A.L. Aswani Chowdhary/V. Jyoti Swaroopa (AP) 11-1, 11-6; Sonal More/Neha Rane (Maha) bt Sarada Govardhini/Saina Nehwal 11-6, 7-11, 11-7; Abantika Deka/Rimi Hazarika (Assm) bt Bibari Basumatari/S.K. Goswami 11-9, 11-9; B. Srilakshmi/T. Sowmya (AP) bt Amruta Mukherjee/Payal Banerjee 11-3, 11-1.

Mixed doubles: Semifinals: Bahiniman Bohra/Krishna Deka Raja (Asm) bt Rajiv Goswami/Rimi Hazarika (Asm) 11-7, 13-10; Vineeth Manuel/Nima Lakshmi (Ker) bt P. Sarat Chandra/Deepti Priyadarshini (AP) 8-11, 11-8, 13-10. Quarterfinals: Vineet Manuel/Nema Lakshmi (Ker) bt Muralidharan/Anees (TN) 11-1, 9-11, 11-6; P. Sarat Chandra/Deepti Priyadarshini (AP) bt Praveen Upadhyay/Neha Vad (Maha) 11-2, 3-11, 11-4; Rajiv Goswami/Rimi Hazarika (Asm) bt P.V. Srinivas/Ch. Srilakshmi (AP) 11-1, 11-0; Bahiniman Bohra/Krishna Deka Raja bt Swapnil Vyavaharkar/Poonam Walibe (Mah) 11-1, 11-7.

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