All India Junior Ranking Badminton Tournament: Gayatri, Navneeth, Sahithi tops

Hyderabad: Telangana shuttlers Pullela Gayatri Gopichand and Samiya Imad Farooqui did very well at the Yonex-Sunrise All India Junior Ranking Badminton Tournament held at Jaipur making it 1-2 in the girls singles to stamp the State’s domination.

Top seed Gayatri — daughter of national chief coach Gopichand — won the Under 19 title clash after taking the hard-fought first game 22-20 against Samiya before stepping on the accelerator to run away with the second at 21-10 and seal the deal.

Earlier in the semifinals, Samiya, seeded seventh, upset sixth seed Mansi Singh of Uttar Pradesh 21-13, 18-21, 23-21 while Gayatri silenced Smit Toshniwal of Maharashtra 21-15, 23-21.

There was more cheer for Telangana in the mixed doubles when Navaneeth Bokka and Sahithi Bandi combined to beat Dingku Singh Konthoujam and Kavipriya S. 21-14, 21-18 in the final.

Sahithi also took a bronze after losing the girls doubles semifinal along with partner Nafeesah Sara Siraj to Kavya Gupta & Khushi Gupta of Delhi 12-21, 17-21.

The Results
n Girls U-19 singles final: Gayatri Gopichand Pullela (1, Telangana) bt Samiya Imad Farooqui (7, Telangana) 22-20, 21-10.
Semifinals: Gayatri bt Smit Toshniwal (8, Maharashtra) 21-15, 23-21; Samiya bt Mansi Singh (6, Uttar Pradesh) 21-13, 18-21, 23-21.
Quarterfinals: Gayatri bt Kavipriya S (4, Pondicherry) 21-13, 21-10; Samiya bt Unnati Bisht (2, Uttarakhand) 19-21, 21-10, 21-17.
Third round: Gayatri bt Taneesha Singh (UP) 21-19, 21-12; Third round: Samiya bt Aashi Rawat (15, Delhi) 21-16, 21-12.
Second round: Gayatri bt Trisha Hegde (Karnataka) 16-21, 21-16, 21-15; Samiya bt Chimran Kalita (Assam) 21-11, 21-7.
First round: Gayatri bt Suzen Burhagohain (Assam) 21-11, 21-7; Samiya bt Sai Shriya Yanamandra (Telangana) 21-12, 21-11.
n Mixed doubles U-19 final: Navaneeth Bokka/ Sahithi Bandi (2, Telangana) bt Dingku Singh Konthoujam (Manipur)/ Kavipriya S. (Pondicherry) (4) 21-14, 21-18.
Semifinals: Navaneeth Bokka/ Sahithi bt Balkeshwari Yadav (UP)/ Shavi Bhatnagar (Madhya Pradesh) 21-15, 21-15.
Quarterfinals: Navaneeth Bokka/ Sahithi bt Manav Raj Sumith/ Treesa Jolly (7, Kerala) 21-19, 21-15.
Second round: Navaneeth Bokka/ Sahithi bt Ravikrishna P. S. (Kerala)/ Varshini V. S. Tamil Nadu) 27-25, 21-17.
First round: Navaneeth/ Sahithi got walkover from Chayanit Joshi/ Sneha Rajwar (Uttarakhand).
n Girls U-19 doubles semifinal: Sahithi Bandi (Telangana)/ Nafeesah Sara Siraj (Kerala) (4) lost to Kavya Gupta/ Khushi Gupta (2, Delhi) 12-21, 17-21.
Quarterfinal: Sahithi/ Nafeesah bt Shehjar Chowdhury/ Anusha Goel (6, UP) 21-16, 21-9.
Second round: Sahithi/ Nafeesah got a walkover from Sneha Rajwar (Uttarakhand). Khushi Thakkar (Delhi).
First round: Sahithi Bandi (Telangana/ Nafeesah Sara Siraj (Kerala) (4) bt Ananya Bhandari (Rajasthan)/ Sania Joshi (UP) 21-4, 21-9.