Badminton: Saad lone bright spot for Pune, earns main draw berth in women’s singles

Pune, 31st August 2022: Ankit Malik played out a marathon encounter, while Rounak Chouhan and Abhinav Manglam were stretched to the limits before qualifying for the main draw of the Yonex Sunrise India Junior International Grand Prix 2022, and played in memory of the Late Sushant Chipalkatti, at the P. E. Society’s Modern PDMBA Sports Complex, from Wednesday.

On a day when all 54 qualification slots were sealed – 32 in the singles (men and women) and 24 in doubles (8 each in men, women and mixed), the boy’s singles witnessed tough competition.

The top draw of the day was Haryana-lad Ankit, who staged a comeback three-game win over Ishant Sehrawat 18-21, 21-16, 21-16 in a 54-minute intense battle, which incidentally was the longest of the day. Similarly, Rounak needed 44-minutes to dispose of Aditya Diwakar 15-21, 21-12, 22-20.

In another lengthy battle, Delhi’s Abhinav Manglam put an end to A.R Rohan Kumar Anandas Raj Kumar 22-24, 21-15, 21-14 after spending 49 minutes on court.

Earlier, on Tuesday local-girl Saad Dharmadhikari was the cynosure of all eyes on the opening day by winning two rounds to become the only Puneite to advance into the main draw of the women’s singles.

Saad, a District winner recently, began her day downing Sri Vyshnavi Sistla Venkata Sasha 21-11, 21-11 in a 22 minute encounter. Later, she returned to win a tough come-from-behind three-game win over Alisha Khan 9-21, 21-11, 21-9 in 34 minutes.

The day overall had Pune players exit early. Aarti Chougale bowed to Priyanka Pant 15-21, 17-21 in a 20 minute Round-1 Qualifying encounter. Ananya Gadgil also exit early, losing out to Deepshika Neredimelli 10-21, 14-21.

The main draw begins on Thursday.

RESULTS (Final Qualification; All India unless mentioned)

Men’s Singles: Abhinav Manglam Bt A R Rohan Kumar Anandas Raj Kumar 22-24, 21-15, 21-14; Singh Jaskaran Bt Marvin Arokia Walter 21-5, 21-10; Rushendra Thirupathi Bt Ashwin Karthik Muthuchamy 21-13, 21-12; Venkata Sai Himadeep Amanchi Bt Sataksh Singh 21-16, 15-21, 21-14; Dhruv Negi Bt Numair Shaik 21-17, 14-21, 21-19; Pranav Samala Bt Devang Tomar 21-17, 21-16; Pranay Shettigar Bt Shreyas Sane 21-12, 21-18; Nikhil Chetry Bt Sugi Sai Bala Singha Gopinath Singh 21-15, 21-7; Ankit Malik Bt Ishant Sehrawat 18-21, 21-16, 21-16; Anishraj Rajkumar Bt Akshat Reddy Gavva 21-14, 22-20; Bharadwaj Balasubramanian Bt Adith Kp 21-10, 21-18; Himanish Das Bt Aryan Shriwal 21-14, 21-15; Vignesh Thathineni Bt Aryan Tushir 21-15, 21-14; Harshit Tomar Bt Abhishek Kurudimatt Kotresh 21-19, 21-16; Neer Nehwal Bt Rawat Siddharth 21-13, 21-15; Rounak Chouhan Bt Aditya Diwakar 15-21, 21-12, 22-20

Men’s Doubles: P. Laotherdpong/J. Paotong (Thailand) Bt Madhurr Dhingra/ Abhinav Manglam 27-25, 18-21, 22-20; Y. Giridhar/S. Hemanadeshwar Bt Ujjwal Chaudhary/Daksh Gautam 21-11, 13-21, 21-19; Bharathsanjai S/Nathan Shieh Bt Aryan Tushir/Deepanshu Vats 21-14, 21-15; Lokesh Parasa/ Rushendra Thirupathi Bt Akul Malik/ Vaibhav Mehra 21-14, 21-15; Krish Desai/Pranay Shettigar Bt Harshit Dahiya/Ishant Sehrawat 21-9, 21-16; Asmit Agarwal/Rahul Azaad Talluri Bt Nikhil Chetry/ Tarun Basavaraj Morab 21-15, 21-17; Bhargav Ram Arigela/Viswa Tej Gobburu Bt Dhruv Negi/Manish Phogat 21-9, 21-14; Saikat Banerjee/ Ankit Mondal Bt Nagi Reddy Nallamilli/ Sai Karthik Susarla 21-9, 21-23, 21-18

Women’s Singles: Priyanka Pant bt Riddhi Bhardwaj 21-17, 21-8; Durga Esha Kandrapu bt Shravya Dande 21-17, 21-11; Farza Nazrin bt Sanjana Ganugu 21-18, 21-17; Saad Dharmadhikari bt Alisha Khan 9-21, 21,-11, 21-9; Swathi Srikantan bt Disha Santosh 21-11, 21-14; Sutanwi Sarkar bt Dharuniga Sankar 21-15, 21-18; Stuti Agrawal bt Anika Sinha 21-19, 22-20; Aesha Gandhi bt Shagunpreet Karu 21-7, 21-18; Sheena Narwal bt Prashansa Bonam [Pmd] 21-5, 21-9; Chitwan Khatri bt Rashi Mall 21-15, 21-15; Nikkita Joseph bt Shreya Tiwari 23-21, 18-21, 21-13; Rujula Ramu bt Singh Siya 21-12, 21-9; Tanvi Sharma bt Deepshika Neredimelli 21-19, 17-21, 21-10; Aalisha Naik bt Hetal Vishwakarma 21-13; 21-13; Gloria V Athavale bt Naina Chauhan 21-10; 21-9 21; Mansa Rawat bt Simran Dhingra 21-7, 21-15;

Women’s Doubles: Gargi Gargi/ Sreshta Reddy Kannareddy / Anmol Kharb/Ishita Negi W.O.; Sakshi Phogat/ Mansa Rawat / Sheena Narwal/ Chanchal Yadav 21-11 21-7; Nidhi Desai/ Sakshi Kurbkhelgi / Poddar Ishika/ Rashi Mall 21-19, 12-21, 22-20; Alisha Khan/ Muskaan Khan / Poojitha Goudicherla/ Naga Sahithi Mandaleeka 21-13, 21-18;  Jennifer Josfina/ Hetal Vishwakarma w/o; Shreeya Ramesh Chitoor/ Akansha Matte / Shrishti Gupta/ Aikyada Gurav 21-17, 21-17; Aarti Chougale/ Saad Dharmadhikari / Pragya Katara/ Brinda Shinda 21-16, 16-21, 21-11; Tanvi Reddy Andluri/ Durga Esha Kandrapu W/O

Mixed Doubles: Arsh Mohammad/ Gargi Gargi Bt Viswa Tej Gobburu/ Vishakha Toppo 21-19, 21-18;  Saikat Banerjee/ Sutanwi Sarkar Bt V. Chebrolu/S. Anumula 21-11, 21-9; Shivam Mehta/ Mansa Rawat Bt Ankit Malik/ Palak Arora 21-12, 21-13;  Shaurya Pant/ Priyanka Pant Bt Lakshay Malik/ Chitwan Khatri 21-15, 21-15; Varshith Sai Inturi/ Brinda Shinda W/O; Shreyas Sane/ Aarti Chougale  W/O; Prem Kumar Prabhu Raj Mohan/ Kanishka Ganesan Bt Aman Suresh/Nanda Ghosh 21-14, 21-16; Sathwik Reddy Kanapuram/ Vaishnavi Khadkekar Bt Bhargav Ram Arigela/ Parida Pragati 21-18, 21-15.