Tasnim, Rajawat claim singles crowns in Chhattisgarh International Challenge

Tasnim was honoured with the Emerging Hero award at the Sportstar West Sports conclave in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

Tasnim Mir | Photo Credit: Instagram/Tasnim Mir

Former junior World No. 1 Tasnim Mir and the talented Priyanshu Rajawat registered contrasting victories to clinch the women’s and men’s singles titles respectively at the India Chhattisgarh International Challenge badminton tournament in Raipur.

Tasnim, who upset many seeded players in the earlier rounds, got the better of sixth seed Samiya Farooqui 14-21, 21-17, 21-11 in the final while Rajawat defeated the experienced Subhankar Dey 21-13, 21-11 in the men’s singles summit clash.

Tasnim was honoured with the Emerging Hero award at the Sportstar West Sports conclave in Ahmedabad on Saturday. Her father, Irfan, received the award on her behalf. Pradip Parmar, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of Gujarat, presented the honour.

Hailing from Mehsana, Gujarat, Tasnim became the first Under-19 Indian Badminton player to be ranked World No1 in Junior rankings earlier this year.

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She won the national junior champion (U-19) at the age of 14 and also claimed the national crown in the under-13, under-15 and under-19 girls’ singles categories. Tasnim also won U-15 singles and doubles titles at the All-India Sub-Junior ranking tournaments in Hyderabad and Nagpur in 2018. At the 2019 World Junior Championships in Russia, she could not go past the round of 32 but returned to win the title at the Asian U-17 & U-15 Junior Championships the same year in Indonesia. She had also emerged victorious at the President Cup Nepal Junior International Series 2020 in Kathmandu.

Priyanshu Rajawat

In Raipur, India also won the mixed doubles crown with N Sikki Reddy and Rohan Kapoor defeating Thailand’s Ratchapol Makkasasithorn and Chasinee Korepap 22-20, 23-21.

India had a chance to make a clean sweep of titles with even the men’s doubles final being an all-Indian affair.

Third seeds Ishan Bhatnagar and K Sai Prateek upset second seeds Krishna Prasad and Vishnuvardhan Goud 17-21, 21-15, 23-21 in the men’s doubles final.

However, Japan’s sixth seeded combination of Chisato Hoshi and Miyu Takahashi defeated the unseeded Indian pair of Aarti Sara Sunil and Pooja Dandu 12-21, 21-12, 21-7 in the women’s doubles final.