NAVELIM: Top seed Pranav Rao Gandham will clash with Bharat Raghav (2) in the boys final while Unnati Hooda (6) will take on Devika Sihag (5) in the girls final of the Yonex Sunrise All India Junior (U19) Ranking Badminton Goa 2022, at Manohar Parrikar indoor stadium here in South Goa on Thursday morning.
Devika will also have an opportunity to clinch a double crown as she has also made it to the doubles final along with her partner Isharani Baruah with an incredible victory semi-final win.
A lot was expected form an all-Haryana match-up, as Unnati Hooda (6) took on higher-seeded Anupama Upadhyaya (4). However, 14-year-old Unnati put up a commanding display to win 21-14, 21-14 and seal the final spot.
Unnati will meet Devika Sihag [5] in the final. Devika, who prevailed over Rakshitha Sree S. [7] 22-24 21-13 21-11 in 1 hour and 3minutes in semis, also gave a fantastic account of herself in the marathon doubles semis. Credit to their outstanding fitness levels, Devika and Isharani Baruah [4] overcame a stiff resistance from Navya Kanderi [8] and Rakshitha Sree S.
19-21 21-16 21-15 in 1 hour and 21 minutes.
Over on the boys singles event, top-seed Telangana's Pranav Rao Gandham defeated Haryana's Manraj Singh 21-16, 21-19 in an entertaining encounter, which lasted 52 minutes. Pranav Rao was spot on with his smashes, while Manraj fell short of his best when it mattered the most.
In mixed doubles, Sathwik Reddy K and Vaishnavi Khadkekar put up a stunning display as they booked the title clash getting the better of Samarveer [3] and Radhika Sharma 22-20, 21-16 in the semis. They will meet Vighnesh Thathineni & Sri Sai Sravya Lakkamraju, who knocked out Divyam Arora [7] and Ridhi Kaur Toor 21-9 21-13.
Elsewhere, in the junior boys singles semi finals, Bharat Raghav (2) beat Tonmoy Bikash Boruah (4) 21-9 21-17; In the junior boys doubles semi finals, Darshan Pujari / Abhinav Thakur (1) beat Nicholas Nathan Raj / Tushar Suveer (4) 21-10 21-13; Divyam Arora / Mayank Rana beat Prabhjeet Singh Chhabra / Abhishek Mondalika Venkat 15-21, 21-17, 21-14 in the other semi finals; whereas Gnanadha Karthikeyan / Sania Sikkandar (1) beat Kanishka G / Dhanyaa N. 21-7 21-12 to move into girls doubles finals.