Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: Goa’s Shaheen Cherkala Kunjutty delivered an impressive performance at the Yonex-Sunrise G.H. Raisoni Memorial All India Junior Ranking Badminton Tournament 2026, securing victories in both mixed doubles and men’s doubles as the main draw began at the Manohar Parrikar Indoor Stadium, Navelim.
Partnering Jesicca Neyi Saring of Arunachal Pradesh, Shaheen defeated Karnataka’s Armaan Khan and Vibhava Kedalasara Raghavendra 15-12, 15-13 in the mixed doubles Round of 32. He continued his winning run in men’s doubles, joining fellow Goan Aswin Mannambalath to beat Gujarat’s Bhashy Pathak and Parth Puri 15-8, 6-15, 15-11 in a closely contested encounter.
Goa’s Sufiya Shaikh also progressed in women’s singles after overcoming Kerala’s Aagamya Jayan 15-9, 11-15, 15-11 in the Round of 64. However, Dimple Revankar could not get past Delhi’s Sakshi Rana, losing 8-15, 10-15.
In men’s singles, Aarush Pawaskar faced a challenging opening-round encounter against Arunachal Pradesh’s Samuel Tamang, who holds a junior world ranking of 48. Pawaskar went down 7-15, 10-15. Advait Balakrishnan also exited the competition following a 7-15, 7-15 defeat to Arunachal Pradesh’s Gumsh Licha.
The men’s doubles campaign ended early for Advait and Owais Tahasildar, who lost 12-15, 11-15 to Delhi’s Arnav Sharma and Gagan Yadav.
In women’s doubles, Sufiya Shaikh and Shivanjali Thite were defeated 8-15, 9-15 by Karnataka’s Mahitha Naidu Surisetty and Sai Renuja Surisetty.
The national ranking tournament is being organised by the Goa Badminton Association in collaboration with the North Goa District Badminton Association and the Sports Authority of Goa. Shaheen’s double victory and Sufiya’s singles win provided encouraging results for the home contingent as the competition progressed.
