Junior Worlds selection tournament: Maisnam, Malavika bag titles

The tournament was a qualification event to select the Indian team for the World junior championships to be held at Markham, Canada, in November.

Maisnam Meiraba won the boys title in the Yonex Sunrise all-India junior ranking badminton tournament in Chandigarh. (File Photo)

Manipur’s Maisnam Meiraba and Maharashtra’s Malavika Bansod won the boys and girls singles titles in the Yonex Sunrise all-India junior ranking badminton tournament in Chandigarh.

The tournament was a qualification event to select the Indian team for the World junior championships to be held at Markham, Canada, in November.

Both the finals were closely fought and Maisnam defeated Kerala’s Kiran George in the boys singles while Malavika beat her State-mate Purva Barve for the girls title.

Meanwhile Aakarshi Kashyap and Gayatri Gopichand, who were in the Indian team at the recent Asian Games in Jakarta, fell in earlier rounds.

Purva upset the top-seeded Aakarshi in the quarterfinal while the second-seeded Malavika defeated the third-seeded Gayatri in the semifinal.

The results (finals): Boys singles: Maisnam Meiraba (Mpr) bt Kiran George (Ker) 23-21, 16-21, 21-14. Doubles: G. Krishna Prasad (AP)  & Dhruv Kapila (AI) bt Manjit Singh & Dingku Sing (Mpr) 21-14, 21-14. Girls singles: Malavika Bansod (Mah) bt Purva Barve (Mah) 21-17, 21-23, 21-17. Doubles: Aditi Bhatt (Utr) & Tanisha Crasto (Goa) bt K. Preethi (AP) & Priya Devi Konjengbam (Mpr) 24-22, 21-13. Mixed doubles: Sri Krishna Sai Kumar & Srishti Jupudi (TS) bt Sai Pratheek Krishna Prasad & K. Ashwini Bhat (Kar) 21-18, 21-16.