Abhishek, Deepshikha badminton champions

Mohali, April 3

Chandigarh’s Abhishek Saini and Delhi’s Deepshikha Singh claimed the men’s and women’s singles titles on the concluding day of the Invitational North Zone Badminton Tournament. It was conducted by the Mohali Badminton Association, under the aegis of the Badminton Association of India, at Shivalik Public School.

In the men’s singles final, Saini defeated Haryana’s Manraj (19-21, 21-16, 21-17). The match lasted for over 50 minutes. Meanwhile, in the women’s singles final, Deepshikha toppled Chitwan of Haryana (21-19, 17-21, 21-10). Earlier in the day, she had thwarted the challenge of Punjab’s Mahnoor Kaur with a (21-12, 21-7) win, while Chitwan had outplayed Kavya Gandhi of Delhi (21-14, 16-21, 21-14) before making their way into the final.

In the men’s doubles final, Haryana’s Akshit Mahajan and Hardik registered a comfortable (21-15, 21-19) win over Eshaan Duggal and Kshitiz Tyagi. Deepshikha paired with Kavya Gandhi to claim the women’s doubles title by registering a (21-18, 21-19) win over Lalita and Shivani. The mixed doubles pair of Kevin and Ishita defeated the pair of Mahajan and Mahima (21-17, 12-21, 21-13) to clinch the title.

A total of 117 players from different states participated in the tournament. A total of Rs3 lakh prize money was distributed among the winners. Dinesh Khanna, 1965 Asian champion and Arjuna Awardee, awarded the winners. —