Nagpur's badminton talents, Ananya Durugkar, and Nehal Gosavi, along with Krisha Soni, showcased their prowess at the Yonex Sunrise Maharashtra Junior (U-19) State Championship 2023 held in Thane. The tournament concluded on Sunday with commendable performances from the city's athletes.
In the Under-19 girls doubles category, Ananya Durugkar and Nehal Gosavi reached the final. After a back-and-forth battle, the pair held a lead of 20-17 against third seeds Hetal Vishwakarma and Siya Singh. Unfortunately, despite this advantage, Ananya and Nehal couldn't capitalize and lost three match points. The final scores stood at 21-10, 19-21, 24-22, resulting in a hard-fought silver medal for the Nagpur duo. Their journey to the final included victories against top seeds and fourth seeds.
In the boys category, Onaj Gedam displayed strong determination in the quarter-finals but ultimately fell to fourth seed Sarvesh Yadav in a close contest with scores of 21-18, 12-11.
All three athletes, Ananya, Nehal, and Onaj, are under the guidance of international senior badminton coach Kiran Makode and are students at Dr. Ambedkar College, Nagpur. Their training and dedication were evident in their performances on the court.
In the mixed doubles Under-19 final, 16-year-old Krisha Soni teamed up with Pune's Aditya Tripathi. Despite their efforts, they were unable to secure victory, facing a tough challenge against second seeds Harsh Sharma and Sonali Mirkhelkar. The match lasted 49 minutes and ended with scores of 11-21, 23-21, 8-21. Krisha, a student of Class 11 at Centre Point School, receives coaching from Ajay Dayal and Ashish Rajput.
Overall, the Yonex Sunrise Maharashtra Junior (U-19) State Championship showcased the dedication and skills of Nagpur's young badminton talents, who not only reached the finals but also displayed impressive performances against strong opponents.