Birla Memorial Masters Inter: Ajita Ravindran displayed immense grit and resilience against an equally determined Pooja Jhalani to prevail in three games and win the Women’s Singles 45+ title in the G D Birla Memorial Inter-Club Badminton Tournament, promoted by Badminton Gurukul and hosted by Bombay Gymkhana, in Mumbai on Tuesday.
After dropping the closely contested opening game 24-26, Ajita clawed back to win the second 21-19 and, with both players fighting tooth and nail for each point in trying conditions, won the decider 21-18 to cap a well-deserved victory.
In the Men’s Doubles 110+ category, the duo of Bibhash Chatterjee and Shiv Thakur delivered a commanding performance to defeat top seeds Gautam Laud and Shailesh Daga in straight games, 21-12, 21-15.
In the Men’s Singles 45+ category, Vikrant Karanjkar put up a dominant display to overcome top seed Sachin Bharati 21-6, 21-19, while, in the Mixed Doubles 80+ category, Hemant Duggal and Shweta Thakur registered one of the most one-sided wins of the finals, defeating Sandeep Mohan and Tejasvi Sawant Desai 21-10, 21-4.
Earlier, it was doomsday for a majority of the seeded players in the semifinals of the G D Birla Memorial Masters Inter-Cub Badminton Tournament on Monday.
The top two seeds in the women’s singles 45+, Priya Ambekar and Namita Mehta-Vijayakar, were shown the door, losing in contrasting fashion. While top seed Priya lost 6-21, 13-21 to Pooja Jhalani, second seed Namita put up a better fight before losing in three games, 14-21, 21-15, 11-21.
Seeded teams also lost out in the Men’s Doubles 110+ and the Mixed Doubles 80+. In the mixed doubles, the top seed pairing of Shailesh Daga and former international Aparna Popat were defeated by Sandeep Mohan and Tejasvi Sawant 21-14, 19-21, 21-9. There was heartbreak for the second seeds too as Shiv Thakur and Naheed Divecha were beaten by Hemant Duggal and Shweta Thakur 21-12, 21-16.
Final Match Results
Men’s Doubles 110+
Bibhash Chatterjee/Shiv Thakur bt Gautam Laud / Shailesh Daga [1] - 21-12, 21-15
Women’s Singles 45+
Ajita Ravindran bt Pooja Jhalani - 24-26, 21-19, 21-18
Men’s Singles 45+
Vikrant Karanjkar bt Sachin Bharati [1] - 21-6, 21-19
Hemant Duggal/Shweta Thakur defeated Sandeep Mohan/Tejasvi Sawant Desai - 21-10, 21-4.