Goemkarponn desk
PANAJI: Maharashtra and Assam marched into the badminton women’s team final with comfortable wins over their respective opponents in the group stages of the 37th National Games at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium here on Friday.
Maharashtra now have a chance to bag both the team gold medals from the badminton arena as the men will take on Karnataka in the other summit clash.
With the final spot in line, Maharashtra women were taking on hosts Goa in their final group B clash while Assam faced Andhra Pradesh in Group A. Both the teams came up with clinical performances to win 5-0 and 3-2 respectively to top their groups.
Ashmita Chaliha, who represented India in the Asian Games in China recently, shouldered the bulk of responsibility for Assam as she first won the opening singles 16-21, 21-9, 21-14 against Andhra Pradesh’s Navya Kanderi and then teamed up with Ishrani Baruah to beat the combination of Sai Uttejitha Rao and D Pooja 21-16, 21-11.
Baruah won the second singles against Surya Charishma Tamiri 18-21, 21-6, 21-15 to put the result beyond doubt.
In the Group B clash, Maharashtra proved too strong for hosts Goa, who were already missing one of their key singles player, Anjana Kumari, due to injury.
Purva Barve gave Maharashtra the perfect start beating Sakshi Kurbhegli 21-14, 21-11 before Shurti Mundada increased the advantage with a 21-19, 21-11 win over Anura Prabhudesai.
Former junior national champions Ritika Thaker and Simran Singhi then assured Maharashtra of the final spot with a 21-11, 21-10 win over Anura and Lydia Barretto. The eventual finalists went on to win the third singles and second doubles comfortably to finish their group commitments without dropping a single point.
In the men’s section, Uttarakhand defeated Delhi 3-2 to finish second in Group B while Assam got the better of Goa in Group A.
Both Uttarakhand and Assam will bag a bronze medal for their effort in the men’s team event while Andhra Pradesh and Punjab will get on the medal’s podium in women.
Results:
Women:
Maharashtra bt Goa (Purva Barve bt Shruti Sakshi Kurbhegli 21-14, 21-11; Shruti Mundada bt Anura Prabhudesai 21-19, 21-11; Ritika Thaker/Simran Singhi bt Anura/Lydia Barretto 21-11, 10; Saad Dharmadhikari bt Yasmin Sayed 21-10, 21-13; Smruti/Akshaya Warang bt Anagha Karandikar/Anamika Singh 21-18, 21-13)
Assam bt Andhra Pradesh (Ashmita Chaliha bt Navya Kanderi 16-21, 21-9, 21-14; Ishani Baruah bt Surya Charishma Tamiri 18-21, 21-6, 21-15; Ishani/Ashmita bt Sai Uttejitha Rao/D Pooja 21-16, 21-11; Mayuri Barman lost to Akanksha Matte 14-21, 7-21; Manali Bora/Maini Boruah lost to Mamaikya Lanka/Akanksha 14-21, 21-13, 15-21)
Men:
Uttarakhand bt Delhi 3-2 (Chirag Sen lost to Karthikey Gulshan Kumar 18-21, 14-21; Aditya Joshi bt Arjun Rehani 21-17, 21-19; Dhruv Rawat/Chirag bt Swaranraj Bora/Kaustubh Rawat 21-19, 21-16; Dhruv bt Abhinn Vashist 16-21, 21-11, 21-14; Shashank Chettri/Chaynit Joshi lost to Nitin Kumar/Harsh Rana 21-23, 14-21.
Assam bt Goa (Orijit Chaliha bt Ayaan Shaikh 21-9, 21-7; Iman Sonowal lost to H Arunesh 14-21, 22- 20, 17-21; Sangram Chutia/Suraj Goala bt Tejan Fallary/Arunesh 21-19, 21-19; Tonmay Bikash Boruah bt Rahul Deswal 21-17, 17-21, 21-10; Nibir Ranjan Choudhary/Iman Sonowal bt Arjun Fallary/Fredreck Fernandes 21-17, 21-19)
