Gauri in next round of sub-junior ranking meet

Mohali, June 29

Haryana’s Gauri Kalla ousted Rajasthan’s Luckshita Bhardwaj 21-7 21-4 in the first match of the girls’ U-13 qualifying round during the ongoing Yonex-Sunrise All-India Sub-Junior Ranking Tournament here today.

Chandigarh’s B Ridhima Saini also marched ahead by defeating Maharashtra’s Shravani Bamankar 21-11 21-18, while another Haryana player, Tashvi Gupta, defeated Kerala’s Thejasvi Anil 21-15 16-21 21-13. Avni Reddy Hanumaiah Gari defeated Nakshatra Jala 21-14 21-12, Hithaishree L Rajaiah outplayed Bihar’s Swayamprabha Kumari 21-16 21-6 and Manipur’s Rebika Devi Mayanglambam defeated Maharashtra’s Shreeja Wankhede 21-5 21-6 in other qualifiers.

Aadhira Rao Pasula of Andhra Pradesh defeated Rajasthan’s Deshna Jain 21-9 21-11 and Delhi’s Aaratrika Malik defeated Haryana’s Kyra Jhamb 21-7 21-12. Yeyin Suraj of Kerala defeated Avani Yadav of Madhya Pradesh 21-16 21-15 and Tanushree Honawad ousted Assam’s Aaraina Sonowal 25-23 22-20.

Oorja Patel easily recorded a 21-14 21-16 win over Jahnavi Singh and Mohitha Polavaram I defeated Mahela Dasgupta of West Bengal 22-20 21-14. Anushka Epte defeated Ritika Jhamnni 21-14 21-18 and Hitha Maria Jose beat Rithwika Sree Bhukya 21-9 21-13.

Shiven, Amitoj march ahead

In a the boys’ U-13 doubles qualifier, Shiven Dhingra and Amitoj Singh defeated Shaurya Agarwal and J Pranith Barathy 21-15 21-17. Shivansh Panotra and Gopesh Singh defeated N Aariv Mahajan and Arin Singla 21-7 21-4, while Jaivardhan Hooda and Vedant Pahwa ousted Manvik Reddy Survi and Tanmainihal Uttam 21-4 21-13. The team of Arjuna and Mainak Chakraborty outplayed Satvik Bhatia and Aarav Dogra 21-11 21-7, while Ingudam and Rishav Ngangom defeated Kushagra Gandhi and Ranak Gandhi 21-8 21-8. Akshay Machal and Abhideep Rastogi defeated Karthik Kamepalli and Radha Kishan Nadavati 21-19 18-21 21-15.

50 parents report age fraud

The second day of the championship witnessed a series of controversies as over 50 parents submitted objections to the organisers regarding age fraud. They have alleged that players are allowed to play just after producing medical certificates. They demanded that the authorities should conduct the age-verification test of the players in question.

We are helpless: Organisers

Meanwhile, the organisers claimed that they were aware of these cases of age fraud, but were helpless as it was the Badminton Association of India (BAI) which had to take a stance on the matter. “There are many players, who are clearly above 15 years of age. I have conveyed the same to the BAI officials, but we have received no clarification yet.

“We have decided to continue the tournament for the sake of genuine players. The BAI officials refused to cancel the ranking of this championship or cancel this championship. We are really helpless and have informed the parents also,” said Tejinder Bedi, organising secretary of the tournament.

Sources confirmed that the Age Fraud Committee of the BAI had written to the leadership of the National Sports Federation (NSF) about the purported cases of age fraud in this ongoing championship.