Goemkarponn desk
PONDA: Excitement is reaching a feverish pitch as the All Goa Mini & Sub Junior Major Ranking Badminton Tournament 2024 at Ponda gears up for its highly anticipated finals. In the U11 Boys singles finals, Michael Mare will face off against Pratik Borkar. Amaira Dhumatker and Aditi Dhargalkar are set to clash in the U11 Girls singles finals. The U13 Boys singles final will see a thrilling match between Mohammed Umar and Michael Mare, while Avni Khyalia and Niharika Parwar will battle it out for the U13 Girls singles title. In the Boys U17 singles, Advait Balakrishnan is set to take on Soham Naik while top seed Ritika Chelluri will battle Aarohi Coutoncar in Girls U17 Singles.
The event, organized by the Ponda Badminton Club and Margao Shuttlers Club in collaboration with the Goa Badminton Association and the Sports Authority of Goa, continues to captivate fans as one of the key selection tournaments for the Mini and Sub Junior Nationals. In the Boys Singles U11 semi-finals, top seed Michael Mare dominated Varun Sahakari with a convincing 15-3, 15-4 victory. Pratik Borkar advanced to the finals by defeating third seed Krithik Reddy Sripathi 15-11, 15-5. In the Girls Singles U11 category, top seed Amaira Dhumatker triumphed over Aditi Dhargalkar 15-13, 15-1, while Kanika Pai Vernekar overcame third seed Komal Kothari 15-11, 15-9.
In the Boys Singles U13, top seed Mohammed Umar secured his place in the finals by beating Viraditya Pai Kane 21-13, 21-18. Michael Mare also advanced by defeating fourth seed Vishwa Parab 21-10, 21-18. The Girls Singles U13 saw Avni Khyalia upset top seed Pragya Audi 21-17, 21-13, while Niharika Parwar earned her spot in the finals by defeating third seed Palak Ramnathkar 21-13, 21-10.
The Boys Singles U17 featured a nail-biting match where top seed Advait Balakrishnan emerged victorious over Aarush Pawaskar 21-16, 17-21, 21-13. Soham Naik earned his finals berth by defeating fourth seed Rutav Kanabar 21-14, 21-17. Ritika Chelluri defeated Shivanjali Thite (1) 21-6 21-13 while Aarohi Coutoncar beat Sufiya Shaikh 21-19, 21-15 to book their spots into the Girls U17 finals.
