Unseeded Riya Vinherkar of Greater Mumbai produced another impressive performance to send second seed Ketaki Thite of Mumbai Suburban crashing out in the girl’s under-17 singles semi-final round of the Suhas Nadkarni Memorial Yonex Sunrise Maharashtra State Open Badminton Tournament 2023, organized by the MIG Cricket Club under the auspices of the Maharashtra Badminton Association (MBA) and played at the Andheri Sports Complex courts, on Friday.
Riya and Ketaki both played an attacking game and they both had to fight hard for every point. But, Riya who managed to stay focused managed to scrape through clinching a straight-game 21-18, 21-15 victory in a 38-minute battle and to progress into the final. In Saturday’s final, Riya will meet the winner of the second semi-final to be played between top seed Naishaa Bhatoye and Vedika Kulkarni earlier in the same day.
In the women’s doubles (combination 70+) semi-finals, the top seeded pair of Deanne Rodrigues and Neesha Spingett scored a hard-fought win against Pooja Khandekar and Swapnal Chakrabarty pulling off a 21-16, 21-23 and 21-17 victory. In the other semi-final, the second-seeded pairing of Dipti Paranjpe Purohit and Priya Ambekar had a much easier outing as they breezed past Bhagyalaxmi Kulkarni and Tejawi Pilankar racing to a quick 21-18, 21-8 win.
Results – Girls’ U-17 singles (semi-finals): Riya Vinherkar (Greater Mumbai) beat Ketaki Thite (Mumbai Suburban) 21-18, 21-15;
Results – Women’s doubles (combination 70+) – Semi-finals: 1-Deanne Rodrigues/Neesha Spingett bt Pooja Khandekar/Swapnal Chakrabarty 21-16, 21-23, 21-17;
2-Dipti Paranjpe Purohit/Priya Ambekar bt Bhagyalaxmi Kulkarni/Tejawi Pilankar 21-18, 21-8.