Sport - Badminton

Ernakulam teams in final

KOCHI: Ernakulam turned out to be a good host on the opening day of the Kerala State sub-junior badminton championship at the Rajiv Gandhi indoor stadium here on Wednesday.

The host boys and girls not only entered the inter-district team finals in both sections but also helped Kannur boys make it to the title round.

Kannur’s stars, Aditya Prakash and Shyam Prasad, are from Ernakulam but since they were unable to get berths in their strong home team, they switched loyalties for this championship. Kannur stunned last year’s runner-up Thiruvananthapuram 2-0 with Aditya and Shyam playing a big role in the victory. Ernakulam blanked Pathanamthitta 2-0 in the other semifinal.

Ernakulam, powered by Daya Elsa Jacob, brushed aside Kozhikode in the girls section. The host will meet Thiruvananthapuram in Thursday’s final.

The results (inter-district team championship): Boys semifinals: Ernakulam bt Pathanamthitta 2-0 (V.H. Bharath bt A.G. Gopan 21-14, 21-12; Arun George / V.H. Bharath bt Vignesh / Rahul Menon 21-11, 21-14); Kannur bt Thiruvananthapuram 2-0 (Shyam Prasad bt Balasubramanian 21-13, 21-12; Aditya Prakash / Shyam Prasad bt Jithin Suresh / Balasubramanian 21-19, 17-21, 21-14).

Girls semifinals: Ernakulam bt Kozhikode 2-0 (Daya Elsa Jacob bt M.H. Haritha 21-9, 21-4; Daya / Anjali Maria Sunil bt K. Anoosha / Keerthana P. Nair 21-11, 21-11); Thiruvananthapuram bt Alappuzha 2-0 (Malavika Mathen bt Cleona Paiva 21-7, 21-4; Soumya B. Ashok / R. Divya bt Cheona / P.J. Ancy 21-6, 21-5). — Principal Correspondent

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