Maharashtra, Airport Authority Of India Crowned Champions At Badminton Senior National Team Championships

The prestigious national championships organised by the Badminton Association of India (BAI), is being held in Assam after four years.

Guwahati: Maharashtra and the Airport Authority of India (AAI) stamped their authority with power-packed performances to clinch the titles of the 75th Inter State-Inter Zonal Badminton Championships 2023 in the women’s and men’s team events respectively at the RG Baruah Sports Complex in Assam’s Guwahati on Tuesday.

 

The prestigious national championships organised by the Badminton Association of India (BAI), is being held in Assam after four years. The dominant AAI team appeared in both the men’s and women’s team finals and managed to clinch the title in the former category as they outclassed Karnataka 3-0, as per a press release.

 

Tharun Mannepalli started AAI’s challenge aggressively in the final when he thrashed Bhargav Somasundara 21-18, 21-18 in the opening singles match. Maisnam Meiraba then doubled the lead with a 22-20, 16-21, 21-11 win against Raghu Mariswamy in the second singles contest which lasted nearly an hour. Later, men’s doubles duo of Alap Mishra-Ravikrishna finished things off in style for AAI as they defeated Prakash Raj-Ashith Surya 21-11, 16-21, 21-19, the release said.

 

Meanwhile in the women’s team event final, Maharashtra dominated AAI 3-0 with impressive displays from Shruti Mundada, Alisha Naik and the doubles pair of Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker. Mundada started the day for Maharashtra with a hard-fought win 23-21, 23-25, 21-18 over Tanya Hemanth in the opening singles match that lasted for an hour and 23 minutes. The second match also saw intense battle but Naik recovered well in time after losing the second set to secure a 21-18, 12-21, 21-19 victory against Mansi Singh, it said.

 

Singhi and Thaker then took just 42 minutes to ensure Maharashtra’s position on top of the podium when the duo beat Tanya Hemanth and Priya Devi Konjengbam comfortably with the scores of 21-14, 21-18, it added.

 

The individual events will kick-off on Wednesday with star shuttlers like Badminton World Federation (BWF) world championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen, experienced Sameer Verma, Aakarshi Kashyap, home favourite Ashmita Chaliha among many more vying for the coveted titles. The finals will be played on Sunday, the release further said.

The writer is a senior independent journalist covering the Northeast.