Pune: Maharashtra shuttlers extended their winning run by booking half the semifinal berths in the individual events of the 57th National Schools Badminton Championship, at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex at Mhalunge-Balewadi, here on Thursday. In the boys sections, Maharashtra had fancied Sudhanshu Medshikar and Abhishekh Kulkarni advance into the last-4 of the Under-19 boys section in contrasting styles.
Sudhanshu rallied from a game down to put out Yash Jain 13-21, 21-18, 21-13, while Abhishekh had it easy winning 21-16, 22-20 in another quarterfinal encounter.
In the girls section of the same age group, Shruti Mundada found Puducherry’s Aruna a tough nut to crack before prevailing 17-21, 22-20, 21-8. Shruti’s teammate Kalyani Limaye shrugged off Bonita Bose of Kendriya Vidyalaya in straight games 21-12, 21-14.
In another last-8 encounter, Radhika Joshi was unlucky to not join her teammamtes Shruti and Kalyani when she bowed 12-21, 20-22 to Sneha Santal of Kerala.
In a hectic schedule that is certain to stretch late, Maharashtra Under-17 boys booked three places in the semifinals as Chirag Shetty, Vaibhav Bhirne and Kaushal Dharmamer got past their opponents posting varied results.
Chirag had it easy against Karnataka’s Lakhit Gonda and won 21-7, 21-15. Vaibhav was pushed hard by Utkasrh (Delhi) before coming clean 21-18, 21-17, while Kaushal Dharmamer came back from a game down to end the challenge of Rrushab Sharma (Assam) 19-21, 21-14, 21-6.
The event is being organized by the Maharashtra Directorate of Sports and Youth affairs under the aegis of the School Games Federation of India (SGFI).
Results
Boys, U-19, QF: Sudhanshu Medshikar (Mah) bt Yash Nain (Dli) 13-21, 21-18, 21-13; Abhishekh Kulkarni (Mah) bt Ketan (Har) 21-16, 22-20; Arun (Har) bt Akram Safi (Jhk) 21-16, 21-19
U-17, QF: Chirag Shetty (Mah) bt Lakhit Gonda (Ktk) 21-7, 21-15; Vaibhavi Bhisne (Mah) bt Utkarsh (Dli) 21-18, 21-17; Kaushal Dharmamer (Mah) bt Rishab Sharma (Asm)19-21, 21-14, 21-16; Sanyam Shukla (Chattisgadh) bt Sankirth (KtK) 21-15, 21-16.
Girls, U-19, QF: Shruti Mundada (Mah) bt Aruna (Puducherry) 17-21, 22-20, 21-8; Kalyani Limaye (Mah) bt Bonita Bose (Kendriya Vidyalaya School) 21-12, 21-14; Anjali Rawat (Guj) bt Sangmitra (Asm) 21-8, 21-11; Snehal Santhal (Ker) bt Radhika Joshi (Mah) 21-12, 22-20.
