Unseeded Ruturaj Rathod showed tremendous resilience to extend his giant-killing run to win the boys’ under-19 singles title in the CCI-GMBA badminton championship 2022 for boys’ and girls’ under-17 and under-19, and played at the CCI badminton courts.
In the final, Ruturaj, who had earlier knocked the second seed Darius Pardiwala in the semi-finals, dished out another determined performance against the top-seeded Aaryavardhan Jadhav and his hard work paid dividends as the latter retired after he sustained a knee injury and could not continue. Ruturaj had fought gallantly to win the first game 22-20, and was leading 15-12 when Aaryavardhan got injured.
Earlier, the diminutive, but skillful and crafty Harshit Mahimkar clinched the boys’ under-17 singles title. In the title-deciding encounter, the shrewd and clever Harshit tactfully cut to size the taller Angad Tathgir carving out a deserving straight-game 21-17, 21-9 verdict with a degree of comfort.
Aaryavardhan started aggressively and enjoyed a 5-3 lead before Ruturaj came roaring back, winning eight consecutive points to take a 11-5 lead at the break. Ruturaj maintained the lead but Aaryavardhan, not prepared to easily surrender, levelled the scores at 20-all to extend the game. The taller Ruturaj, won the next two points to pocket the game and take a 1-0 lead.
The second game was also a close affair, but as the contest seemed to be heading for a tight finish Aaryavardhan pushing hard injured the knee and was forced to concede the game and match to Ruturaj, who emerged victorious.
In the under-17 final, Angad showed plenty of promise initially and did well to keep pace with the talented Harshit for most of the first game. But, Harshit after getting into a rhythm started to control the rallies and with some deft touch and deceptive shots won points in a canter to close out the contest 21-17, 21-9 without much of a fuss.
Results – Boys U-17 singles (finals): Harshit R. Mahimkar bt Angad Tathgir 21-17, 21-9.
Boys U-19 singles (finals): Ruturaj Rathod bt 1-Aaryavardhan Jadhav 22-20, 15-12 retired.