Lakshya Sen and Ashmita Chaliha emerged as the men’s and women’s champions respectively in the Yonex-Sunrise all-India senior ranking badminton tournament, which concluded at Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence here on Saturday.
While favourite Lakshya predictably cruised past Alap Mishra 21-10, 21-16 in the men’s final, third-seed Ashmita dazzled the audience during her 21-14, 21-10 victory over Aakarshi Kashyap in the women’s summit clash.
Southpaw Ashmita, 19, showcased her agility, quick court coverage and devastating smashes. The Assam shuttler entered the clash in tremendous form, having won the Dubai International Challenge and Tata Open titles in the last month.
Lakshya too had a similarly one-sided outing. The 17-year-old started at a rapid pace, taking a 10-0 lead before Alap could even record his first point. While Alap managed to pull closer in the second game, it was not nearly enough.
For Lakshya, this is the start of a new phase in his career. “I will not play in junior tournaments anymore. The recent World Junior Badminton Championships (Lakshya earned a bronze) was my last. I’ve decided to compete only in senior tournaments from now on. So victories like this one gives me the confidence that I can do well on the senior circuit. I will carry this confidence into the upcoming Premier Badminton League,” Lakshya said.
The results (finals):
Men:
Singles: Lakshya Sen bt Alap Mishra 21-10, 21-16.
Doubles: Krishna Prasad & Dhruv Kapila bt Rupesh Kumar & V. Diju 21-14, 21-9
Mixed doubles: Dhruv Kapila & Meghana Jakkampudi bt Rohan Kapoor & Kuhoo Garg 21-13, 22-20.
Women:
Singles: Ashmita Chaliha bt Aakarshi Kashyap 21-14, 21-10.
Doubles: Rutaparna Panda & Arathi Sara bt Meghana Jakkampudi & Poorvisha Ram 10-21, 21-17, 21-12.
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