Samiya Imad Farooqui and Gayatri Gopichand led six Indians into the second round of singles while in doubles, three Indian pairs made a winning start as the first round action concluded at the prestigious Yonex Dutch Junior International 2019 in Haarlem, Netherlands on Wednesday.
Gyatri Gopichand
2017 U-15 Asian Junior Championships gold medallist Farooqui, who logged in the maximum points among girls in the domestic tournaments last month, recorded an effortless 21-12, 21-11 win over England’s Lisa Curtin. In-form Gayatri, winner of two All India Junior Ranking titles, staved off some stiff resistance from Korea’s Da Jeong Chung to win 21-18, 22-20. Treesa Jolly also kickstarted her campaign with a 21-15, 21-17 victory over Leona Michalski.
India had double delight in boys’ doubles with the pairs of Ishaan Bhatnagar-Edwin Joy and Navaneeth Bokka-Vishnu Vardhan Goud Panjala winning their respective matches to enter the second round. Chhattisgarh’s Bhatnagar and Kerala’s Joy displayed some stunning resilience to register a comeback 16-21, 21-17, 21-17 win over Rafael Gavois and Vincent Ziegler in a 58-minute marathon.
Bokka and Panjala, both from Telengana, had it easier in their 21-14, 21-13 demolition of Rens Lagrouw and Dyon Van Wijlick. In girls’ doubles, Treesa Jolly and Varshini Viswanath Sri beat Kirsten De Wit and Jaymie Laurens 21-10, 21-16.
Bokka and Sahithi Bandi, however, crumbled to a 21-23, 21-17, 13-21 defeat to Zheng Xunjin and Qian Gouhong in a hard-fought opener in mixed doubles.
In boys’ singles, there was no stopping Maisnam Meiraba Luwang who had won a couple of All India Junior Ranking Tournaments to secure his berth in the team. In a 30-minute clash with Sweden’s Ludvig Petre Olsson, the Manipur shuttler emerged a 21-10, 21-11 winner.
Priyanshu Rajawat, hailing from Madhya Pradesh, showed nerves of steel to eke out a gritty 19-21, 21-18, 21-17 win over Magnus Klinggaard while Andhra Pradesh boy Sai Charan Koya easily beat Calle Fredholm 21-11, 21-14.
With the Dutch Junior International, the major events on the junior badminton calendar have begun. India is looking to win a medal for the second consecutive
year from this Junior International Grand Prix event following Dhruv Kapila and Krishna Prasad Garaga’s silver medal in boys’ doubles last year.