Sunny Sawant and Sharmad Mahajan scored upsets over upsets to clinch their maiden Mens Doubles Title at the All Goa Major Ranking Badminton Tournament organized by Ponda Shuttlers at the Indoor Stadium, Ponda on Sunday. The Championship was virtually a fairy tale story for the two talented youngsters. The duo, who had earlier knocked out the top seeds Floyd Araujo and Navneet Nasnodkar in the semis, were on song once again in the Finals as they sent the second seeds Parag Chauhan and Darwin Barretto packing with a 21-19, 21-14 victory. For Sharmad, it was a sweet double as he stamped his superiority in the Under 19 Boys singles event by registering a commanding 21-14, 21-13 win over Pratith Naik.
Top seed Anura Prabhudesai was all business as she made light work of her opponent Emilia Silveira to win the Under 13 Girls singles title with a 21-12, 21-8 win. Dhruv Angle too scored a comfortable 21-12, 21-14 win over Tejan Fallary to claim the Boys Under 13 crown. In the Under 16 Boys event, Rahul Chandrashekar won his third title in a row this year, beating Chinmay Kamat in a tight contest. Rahul, who has been in great form this season, lost the first set 11-21 but rallied well to win the next two by a 21-16, 21-5 score line. Floyd Araujo prevented another major upset as he overcame a tenacious Ankush Patil to win 21-10, 18-21, 21-6 in three sets. Anushka Kuvelkar, Goa’s top ranked Ladies player, faced no such problems as she carved out a 21-15, 21-14 win over Anura Prabhudesai to clinch the Ladies Singles crown. In the Veterans 45 plus singles event, Rupchandra Humrasker continued with his winning ways as he beat Tanaji Sawant. Although Rupchandra survived a scare when he lost the first set 17-21, his superior stamina saw him through as he eased his way to win the next two sets 21-15, 21-11. The match of the day was the Veterans 45 plus Doubles event. Tanaji Sawant and P.K. Gupta, the top seeds, were on the brink of elimination against their opponents R Borkar and Santosh Prabhudesai. With the scores tied at one set all, the match looked all in the grasp of the second seeds who had gained a healthy five points lead in the decider but the top seeded veteran warhorses dug deep into their reserves to register an exciting 21-13, 19-21, 21-19 win over their second seeded opponents. Chief Guest Mr. Narahar Thakur(Secretary, Goa Badminton Association) distributed the prizes along with Club President Anil Paigankar, Club Treasurer Mr. Sandeep Khandeparkar, SAG Coaches Roy Athaide and Vinayak Kamat, Mr. Shashant Naik and others. The Tournament was supported by the Sports Authority of Goa and the Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs. Photograph of the Finalists available at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=75635&id=1187066172&l=836605d411 yours sincerely Sandeep Heble Member, Goa Badminton Association 9326129171 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Now available in Toronto, a few copies of *Into The Diaspora Wilderness* by Selma Carvalho. Contact Bosco D'Mello [email protected] (416) 803-7264 http://selmacarvalho.squarespace.com/
