Date:08/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/08/stories/2009010860312200.htm

Sport - Badminton

Sikki Reddy to meet Tulasi in final

Principal Correspondent

VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh’s Sikki Reddy defeated Maharashtra’s Saili Rane 22-20, 21-19, while Kerala’s P.C. Tulasi beat Maharashtra’s Gowri Ghate 21-14, 21-12 in the semifinals to enter the final of the under-19 girls’ singles of the all-India junior major ranking badminton tournament held at NTR Stadium at Guntur on Wednesday. It will be an all-AP affair as P.V. Sindhu and Manisha will clash for the honours in the under-16 girls’ final.

The results: Girls: Singles (semifinals): U-19: Sikki Reddy bt Saili Rane 21-20, 21-19, P.C. Tulasi bt Gowri Ghate 21-14, 21-12.

U-16: P.V. Sindhu bt Meghana 21-9, 21-11, Manisha bt M. Sudha Kalyani 19-21, 21-18, 21-12.

U-13: G. Ruthvika bt R. Hasini 21-5, 21-9, Karishma bt V. Harika 21-16, 21-18; U-10: Aswini Bhat bt Aarti Priyanka 21-8, 21-7, M. Tanisha bt R. Ramya 21-12, 21-14.

Boys: Singles (quarterfinals): U-19: D. Sumeeth Reddy bt Ajay Kumar 21-16, 22-20, Sai Praneeth bt N.V.S. Vijetha 21-13, 21-15, Sameer Verma bt Rohit Yadav 21-23, 21-15, 21-19, K. Nandagopal bt Akshit Mahajan 21-14, 21-13.

U-16: Sameer Verma bt Sk. Khaja Jaleel 21-13, 21-17, K. Sri Teja bt Trinakur Nag 21-16, 21-7, Rohit Yadav bt B. Venkatesh 21-16, 21-15, Pratul Joshi bt U. Jaiswal 21-11, 24-22.

U-13: Laaltalar bt V. Arora 21-6, 21-5, Saurav Sharma bt Sandeep Suresh 21-19, 11-21, 21-19, Rohit Yadav bt Sankreeth 21-15, 21-11, Chirag Sen bt M.R. Arjun 21-19, 25-23.

Doubles: Boys quarterfinals: U-19: Pranav Chopra & Sai Praneeth bt Anand Tiwari & Bob Sharma 21-14, 21-12, M. Prashant & Anvesh bt Hirak Jyothi & Ajay Kumar 21-16, 21-18, Sumeeth Reddy & H.S. Pranoy bt Srikanth & Nagendra 21-7, 21-10, Nandagopal & Naveen Kumar bt Pratap Menon & Vikas Harsha 21-13, 21-13.