The mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto continued their victorious run as they defeated Vanlalringngheta Joseph and Laldingpull Ralte 21-5, 21-7 on day one of the 85th Senior National Badminton Championships being held at the RG Baruah Sports Complex in Assam’s Guwahati on Wednesday. The prestigious national championships that will go on till December 24 are being organised by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) in Assam after four years.
Three days ago, the mixed doubles pair of Dhruv and Tanisha emerged victorious at the Odisha Masters 2023. Their victory over Joseph and Ralte in their round-of-64 match in 18 minutes speaks volumes about their level of confidence and dominance. Dhruv and Tanisha will face the pair of Abdul Rahman Syed and Mamaikya Lanka in round two, as per a press release.
In the women’s singles encounter, silver medalist in Badminton Asia’s U17 and U15 Junior Championships in October 2023, Tanvi Sharma, overcame Tanya Hemanth with ease. Tanvi handed her opponent a 21-16, 21-11 defeat in the round of 128 match that lasted 30 minutes. The 14-year-old faced a little challenge in the first game but came back strongly in the second to maintain her lead and secure victory. Tanvi will take on Gujarat’s Shreya Lele who overcame her opponent Amolika Singh after an hour-long battle to register a 13-21, 21-14, 30-28 victory. Last year’s runner-up at the Syed Modi International, where she went down to PV Sindhu in the final, Malvika Bansod, secured a 21-6, 21-16 victory against Mayuri Barman, the release said.
Meanwhile, the path to victory for Ayush Shetty, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) 2023 World Junior Championships bronze medalist, was not as easy in the men’s singles match. Facing stiff competition from Adheep Gupta, Ayush managed to claim a 22-20, 21-17 win in an encounter that lasted 43 minutes. In the round of 64 clash, Ayush will take on Neer Nehwal who defeated Joseph Vanlalringngheta 21-9, 21-13 in the first round. It was a stroll in the park for the 2011 BWF World Junior Championships bronze medalist Sameer Verma while he took on Aditya Mondal in the men’s singles round of 128. The 29-year-old shuttler from Madhya Pradesh got the better of Mondal when he registered a 21-11, 21-13 victory in 31 minutes. Verma will now face Meiraba Maisnam Luwang in the next match, it said.
The release further said that for BAI’s U-19 top-ranked player Dhruv Negi, 21 minutes were enough to register a 21-7, 21-11 victory over Prem Singh Chouhan. While Negi did not offer any chance to Chouhan in the first game as he raced to take the lead. Chouhan, however, did resist in the second game, fighting for every point till the two players drew parity at 10-10. Negi then took control of the match and bagged the second game at 21-11 to set up his match with Orijit Chaliha in the round of 64.