Team Herald
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PANJIM: Goa’s Owais Tahasildar and Devansh Sakpal continued their impressive run at the Yonex-Sunrise All India Sub Junior (U-15 & U-17) Ranking Badminton Tournament 2025, ongoing at the Multipurpose Stadium, Peddem, Mapusa, on Sunday.
On Day 2 of the qualification matches, Owais delivered a commanding performance to outclass Sabareeshwaran Loganathan Gayathri of Tamil Nadu 15-4, 15-9; while Devansh came through a tight first game before overpowering Rudra Pratap Singh of Gujarat 19-17, 15-5 in the Boys U-17 category.
Their victories kept Goan hopes alive on a field packed with talent from across India. Shane D’Souza, who is among the top Goa players, however went down fighting to Maharashtra’s Anishwarya Deshmukh, in a tough 15-13, 15-9 loss.
Despite their best efforts, several other Goan shuttlers were unable to advance. In Boys U-17, Harsh Mulik lost to Haryana’s Gagan Singh 9-15, 11-15; Ramchandra Patil fell to Sikkim’s Aanash Dhamala 5-15, 5-15 and Shaurya Naik went down 7-15, 4-15 against Sachet Tripathy, Maharashtra’s top seed.
Gaurav Paradkar, Aloisius Rodrigues, Shane D’Souza, and Raj Dhume also exited the tournament after straight-game losses to higher-ranked opponents.
In the Girls U-15 category, Vidhi Saini from Maharashtra ended Avni Khyalia’s campaign with a 15-5, 15-8 win, while Sufiya Shaikh fought valiantly before losing to seeded (8) player Nitya Jadon of Madhya Pradesh 12-15, 10-15 in the Girls U-17 draw.
Among key results from the national circuit, several top-seeded players lived up to their billing. In Boys U-17, top seed Avadhut Kadam (Maharashtra) advanced with a win over Karnataka’s Heshaan Harish, second seed Parth Gawri (Haryana) breezed past Shayaan Faaz (Karnataka) 15-7, 15-7 and third seed Parth Puri (Gujarat) edged out Jasraj Singh Saluja (Madhya Pradesh) in a thrilling 15-13, 16-18, 15-11 encounter.
Fourth seed Sivacharan Ganesan (Tamil Nadu) dominated Shashish Potanaboina (Andhra Pradesh) 15-9, 15-2. In the Girls U-17 category, top seed Shantipriya Hazarika (Assam) showed no mercy in a 15-3, 15-5 demolition of Mausam Mane Patil (Maharashtra), while Rithwika Sree Bhukya (Telangana) moved on after second seed Harini Raja (Tamil Nadu) gave a walkover.