Sushil, Lydia reign supreme at State Jr Badminton C’Ship

PANJIM: Sushil Nayak and Lydia Barreto reigned supreme in U-19 boys and girls singles finals as the curtains came down on Yonex Sunrise State Junior Badminton Championships, organised by Mormugao Badminton Club in collaboration with Goa Badminton Association (GBA) & the Sports Authority of Goa at Chicalim Sports Complex, on Sunday.

Sushil dominated the boys U-19 final to prevail over Shourya Joshi 21-14, 21-15. While Sushil who had lost to Shourya in the previous Major Ranking finals, he was a different player on the day and came in an attacking mood. The tactics caught Shourya by surprise as he struggled to counter his opponent's speed, precision and attack. “I decided to be aggressive from the beginning of the game and use my smashes to suit the pace of the courts at Chicalim”, stated Sushil while talking about his win. “This tournament was the State championship and one of the selection criteria for West Zone badminton championship. I wanted to win it, I played hard and I am happy with my performance”, added Sushil with a note of delight. 

It was double delight for top seed Lydia Barreto who had much easier outings in the two finals she competed in, winning the Under 17 and Under 19 girls singles titles without much bother. In U17 singles, Lydia hardly broke into a sweat in her 21-5, 21-7 win over Aahana Nayak. The U19 girls singles too went on similar line with Lydia easing past Yasmin Sayed with a comfortable 21-7, 21-9 score line. “I’m happy I won”, Lydia said, “I was completely focussed on my game and my hard work paid. I am thankful to GBA, my coach Vinayak Kamat Sir and not forgetting Roy Ataide Sir. Now I want to work harder to achieve this award at National level”, added Lydia who recently won a bronze medal in U17 mixed doubles All India Ranking along with Arjun Fallary.  

The match of the day was the U-17 boys singles final between Shourya Joshi and Rudra Dukle which was an edge-of-the-seat thriller. It required an exceptional performance from top seed Shourya Joshi to prevent his number two seed opponent from wresting the title. With one set a piece and trailing 18-19 in the third, Shourya had to dig deep into his reserves to pull the game back and clinch the title with the narrowest of margins, winning 16-21, 21-16, 21-19. For Shourya, it was triple delight winning the U17 and U19 boys doubles titles partnering Arjun Fallary. “I feel really good to win triple crown. I have been working on my game for a long time and I am happy it paid off. I would like to thank my partner Arjun for playing an important role in our doubles”, stated Shourya while savouring his feat. Arjun emerged double crown winner. In U17 doubles finals, Shourya / Arjun  defeated Aryaman Saraf / Chetan Magdum  21-15, 21-11 while in the U19 finals which was a repeat clash between the same two pairs, Shourya and Arjun had to face a much stiffer test before prevailing 21-11, 19-21, 21-13.