Neha Pandit and Abhishek Kulkarni clinched the women’s and men’s singles titles respectively in the 2nd Maharashtra Senior State Selection Badminton Tournament 2016 and played at the Goregaon Sports Club badminton hall.
Abhishek Kulkarni (left), winner of the men’s singles title and Neha Pandit (right), winner of the women’s singles title pose with their trophies and Chief Guest, Aslam Shaikh, MLA, Malad
In the women’s summit clash, the second seeded Pandit produced a steady performance to quash the spirited challenge from Shruti Mundada and post a deserving 21-17, 21-15 victory.
Both Pandit and Mundada played aggressively from the start and the match witnessed an absorbing battle for supremacy. But, the cool and calm Pandit was more consistent and managed to snatch a close opening game at 21-17. In the second game, Pandit once again encountered a stiff test from Mundada initially before she took control and also capitalized on some errors from her opponent to wrap up the second game 21-15 to win the women’s crown.
In the men’s final, Kulkarni, came up with another strong, spirited performance as he came from behind to defeat Arijeet Bose in three games. Bose started with plenty of promise and won the first game, but he was unable to maintain the momentum thereafter as Kulkarni came into his own and did well to go on to win the next two games quite comfortably to complete a deserving 17-21, 21-9, 21-17 triumph.
Meanwhile in the men’s doubles final, Abhidnya Sawant and Prasad Shetty came up with a brilliant combined display to outclass the top-seeded pair of Eshan Naqvi and Varun Khanwalkar in straight games 21-11, 21-8 to emerge victorious.
Manasi Gadgil and Mrunmayi Saoji bagged the women’s doubles crown by defeating Bhagirathi Sharma Bande and Ishani Savant 21-10, 21-14 in the final.
Results – Men’s singles (finals): Abhishek Kulkarni bt Arijeet Bose 17-21, 21-9, 21-17.
Women’s singles (finals): 2-Neha Pandit bt Shruti Mundada 21-17, 21-15.
Men’s doubles (finals): Abhidnya Sawant/Prasad Shetty bt 1-Eshan Naqvi/Varun Khanwalkar 21-11, 21-8.
Women’s doubles (finals): Manasi Gadgil/Mrunmayi Saoji bt Bhagirathi Sharma Bande/Ishani Savant 21-10, 21-14.
Mixed doubles (finals): Varun Khanwalkar/Shruti Mundada bt Satyajeet Jagdhane/Riya Arolkar 21-12, 21-12.