Taarini Suri had a very rewarding day, winning the girls’ under-17 and under-15 singles crowns in the Greater Mumbai District Badminton Championship 2019, organized by the Greater Mumbai Badminton Association and hosted by the cricket Club of India and played at the club’s badminton courts on Thursday.
The 12-year-old class seven student of J.B. Petiti School, Fort underlined her supremacy by defeating 11-year-old Naishaa Kaur Bhatoye, a student of St. Gregorios High School, Chembur in three tough games in both the finals to complete a grand double.
In the girls’ under-17 summit clash, the taller Taarini and the smaller built Naishaa were locked in a keen contest and they shared the first two games. In the third, Taarini upped the ante and steadily gained the lead by going into the interval with a 11-4 lead. She then sustained the advantage before closing out the game to seal a 21-14, 12-21 and 21-10 victory to clinch the first of her two titles.
After a break of over an hour, the two renewed their rivalry as they clashed for the under-15 title. This time Naishaa played with greater determination and aggression and managed to wrest the ascendancy. She won nine points in a row to open up a 16-7 lead before taking the first game. Naishaa was once in control in the second, but Taarini with clever change of tactics as he went for the short serves and managed to catch up at 15-all before narrowly winning the second and force the third game.
In the decider, Naishaa and Taarini were once again engaged in a absorbing tussle and the scores ran close before Taarini capitalized on a couple of errors from Naishaa to take a 20-18 lead and was within distance of winning the match. But, Naishaa fought back and won the next two points to level scores and extend the match. Taarini won the next with a cross court smash and then with a bit of luck won the next as her return hit the net cord and dropped into the opponents’ side which sealed her second title.
The duo will clash again in the girls under-13 final on Friday.
In the boys’ U-17 singles final, second seed Aaryavardhan Jadhav defeated top seed Darius Pardiwala 21-12, 21-8.
Ananya Yelave and K. Durgesh won the girls’ and boys’ under-10 titles. Ananya Yelave overcame Ananya Katdare 21-12, 21-17 in the girls final, while K Durgesh easily beat Sidh Bothra 21-7, 21-6.
In the women’s singles semi-final action, the top two seeds crashed out. Top seed Kareena Madan went down fight to unseeded Akshaya Warang 21-15, 10-21, 19-21, while unseeded Riya Arolkar outplayed second seed Samiaa Shah winning 21-14, 21-19.
Results –
Girls U-10 singles (final): Ananya Yelave beat Ananya Katdare 21-12, 21-17.
Boys’ U-10 singles (final): K Durgesh beat Sidh Bothra 21-7, 21-6.
Girls U-13 singles (semi-finals): 1-Naishaa Kaur Bhatoye beat Riya Vinherkar 21-5, 21-6; 2-Taarini Suri beat Ananya Shah 21-8, 21-9.
Boys’ U-13 singles (semi-finals): Nirmit Nayak beat Harshit Mahimkar 21-15, 21-8; Angad Tathgir beat Aryan P Sikchi 21-18, 18-21, 21-13.
Girls’ U-15 singles (final): 1-Taarini Suri beat 2-Naishaa Kaur Bhatoye 15-21, 21-19, 22-20.
Girls’ U-17 singles (final): Taarini Suri beat Naishaa Kaur Bhatoye 21-14, 12-21, 21-10.
Boys’ U-17 singles (final): 2-Aaryavardhan Jadhav beat 1-Darius Pardiwala 21-12, 21-8.
Boys’ U-15 singles (semi-finals): 1-Darius Pardiwala beat Chittin Yadav 21-9, 21-3; Julian N. Korda beat 2-Vajra Mainkar 21-19, 17-21, 21-17.
Girls’ U-19 singles (semi-finals): 1-Shivani Herlekar beat Sakshi Shete 21-15, 21-17; 2-Samiaa Shah beat Saee Shete 21-9, 21-9.
Boys’ U-19 singles (semi-finals): 1-Shubham Pal beat Aaryavardhan Jadhav 21-13, 21-14; Rahil Parikh beat Ameya Nakashe 21-12, 22-20.
Women’s singles (semi-finals): Akshaya Warang beat Kareena Madan 15-21, 21-10, 21-16; Riya Arolkar beat 2-Samiaa Shah 21-14, 21-19.