Lefthander Sushant Niddodi, a former state ranked player, played a stellar role as Catholic Gymkhana upset the applecart of favourites Bombay Gymkhana 2-1 to bag their maiden final, in the ICICI Lambard-6th Shuttlecraze Inter-Club Masters Badminton tournament hosted by Matunga Gymkhana at their air conditioned courts, here today.
New Champions Catholic Gymkhana pose with the trophy after upsetting favourites Bombay Gymkhana in the final of the ICICI Lambard-6th Shuttlecraze Inter-Club Masters Badminton tournament.
After Bombay Gymkhana’s pair of Ayaz Billawala and Mangrish Palekar gave them lead with a humbling 21-11, 21-17 win over Rajesh D’Souza and Bimaldeep Singh, the Catholic Gymkhana pair of Ashutosh Pednekar and Bishmash Chatterji outplayed Shailesh Daga and Naval Bir Kumar 21-10, 21-17 to bring their team on par. And the decider saw lefthander Sushant Niddodi at his very best, ably supported by Ajay Bhatia as they routed Gautam Lad and Aditya Khansaheb 21-9, 21-13 to inscribe their name on the coveted trophy.
Bombay Gymkhana’s woes were further compounded as Chembur Gymkhana’s P.M.Balakrishna and Sidhraj Shah toppled the top seeded pair of Ayaz Billawala and Shailesh Daga with a 21-19, 7-21, 21-17 win to clinch the men’s doubles title. And to add to Shailesh ‘s miserable day, he with Deanne Rodrigues as partner, lost the mixed doubles final to Ashutosh Pednekar and Naheed Divecha 19-21, 14-21.
Results (All finals):
Men’s doubles: P.M.Balakrishna/Sidhraj Shah bt (1)- Ayaz Billawala/Shailesh Daga
21-19, 7-21, 21-17.
Women’s doubles: (1)-Deanne Rodrigues/ Neesha Springett bt Binaffer Bharucha/Nisha Singh 21-10, 21-13.
Mixed doubles: (1)- Ashutosh Pednekar/Naheed Divecha bt (2)-Shailesh Dagga/Deanne Rodrigues 21-19, 21-14.
Team Championships: Catholic Gym bt Bombay Gym 2-1: (Rajesh D’Souza/Bimaldeep Singh lost to Ayaz Billawala/Mangrish Palekar 11-21, 17-21; Ashutosh Pednekar/Bishmash Chatterji bt Shailesh Daga/Naval Bir Kumar 21-10, 21-17; Sushant Niddodi/Ajay Bhatia bt Gautam Lad/Aditya Khansaheb 21-9, 21-13).