The Yonex Sunrise State U-19 Badminton Selection tournament, organized by GMBA, promoted by Badminton Gurukul, and hosted by Willingdon SC, witnessed unexpected exits from the top two seeds in the Girls U-19 category. Top seed Yutika Chavan of Pune faced a tough quarter-final defeat against seventh seed Nishika Gokhe of Nagpur in a closely contested match. Meanwhile, second seed Ridheema Sarpate of Nagpur lost to unseeded Yashwi Patel of Pune in straight games during the semi-finals.
Girls U-19 Quarterfinals and Semifinals
Nishika Gokhe displayed remarkable energy and grit to overcome Yutika Chavan 18-21, 21-19, 21-17. After a brief rest, Nishika returned to defeat Ketaki Thite of Mumbai Suburb 22-20, 21-14 in the semi-finals. She will now face Yashwi Patel for the title, who dominated second seed Ridheema Sarpate 21-18, 21-18 in the other semi-final. Yashwi Patel's journey included a quarter-final win over Khyati Katre of Pune 19-21, 21-14, 21-12. Other quarter-final results saw Ridheema Sarpate beat Dhun Sanghvi of Buldhana 21-12, 21-13, and Ketaki Thite defeat Sharayu Ranjane of Pune 21-13, 21-11.
Boys U-19: Top Seeds Advance to Final
In contrast to the girls' category, the top two seeds in Boys U-19 performed as expected and set up a title clash. Top seed Arjun Aluguvelli of Mumbai Suburbs overcame a strong challenge from Pune's Aayush Adey, winning a close encounter 24-22, 25-23. Second seed Rutva Sajwan of Nagpur had to dig deep to defeat Tanay Mehendale of Raigad 21-17, 9-21, 21-15. In the quarter-finals, Arjun Aluguvelli beat Avadhut Kadam of Pune 22-20, 17-21, 21-14, while Rutva Sajwan defeated Eashwara Uppu of Raigad 21-14, 21-8. Tanay Mehendale and Aayush Adey also advanced by winning their respective matches.
Boys U-19 Doubles
In an exciting U-19 boys doubles quarter-final, fourth seeds Abheek Sharma and Swarit Satpute of Pune rallied back strongly to beat Sairaj Nayse of Nagpur and Satya Chauhan of Mumbai Suburb 14-21, 21-12, 21-11. The semi-finals saw top seeds Arjun Birajdar and Aryan Birajdar of Thane defeat Abheek Sharma and Swarit Satpute 21-12, 21-13. Aayush Adey and Tanay Mehendale also advanced to the final by beating Sarthak Nalawade and Shreyas Maslekar 15-21, 21-13, 21-15.
Other Categories
Girls U-19 Doubles
In the girls doubles, third seeds Pranjal Shinde of Raigad and Yashwi Patel of Pune defeated Sara Salunke and Thea Sheth 21-10, 21-17 in the semi-finals. They will face Sharayu Ranjane and Soyara Shelar of Pune, who beat Rutika Kamble and Sharvari Survase 21-8, 21-12.
Mixed Doubles U-19
In mixed doubles, second seeds Sanidhya Ekade of Thane and Yutika Chavan of Pune advanced to the final by defeating Ojas Joshi and Tanvi Gharpure 12-21, 21-17, 21-17. They will face Sayaji Shelar and Soyara Shelar of Pune, who beat Apurv Davadate and Safa Shaikh 21-12, 21-6.
