Team Herald
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PANJIM: Goa’s rising star Anaya Kamat brought cheers to the local camp with a commanding 15-5, 15-7 victory over Urvee Hurkadli of Karnataka in the Girls U-15 second round match of the Yonex-Sunrise All India Sub Junior (U-15 & U-17) Ranking Badminton Tournament 2025 played at the Multipurpose Stadium, Peddem-Mapusa, on Monday.
Aditi Dhargalkar advanced via walkover in her match against Karnataka’s Avani Murthy.
In Boys U-17 Doubles, Goa's Devansh Sakpal, pairing with Maharashtra’s Eshaan Lagu, won 15-6, 15-7, while Shane D’Souza and Karthikeyan N. (Goa) advanced after a walkover win.
In the Mixed Doubles U-17 category, Goa’s Yashila Ritika Chelluri, partnering with Andhra Pradesh’s Vinayaka Mani Babu Machha Charan Sree Mani, displayed remarkable resilience to defeat Telangana’s Rohan Pabbisetty and Dhriti Sahasra Banda in a gripping three-game contest, 12-15, 15-12, 15-13.
Despite their valiant efforts, several top ranked Goan shuttlers bowed out after spirited fights.
In Girls U-15, Niharika Parwar, Kanika Pai Vernekar, Pragya Audi, Astha Pudel and Palak Ramnathkar went down in straight games.
In Boys U-15 Doubles, all-Goa pairs including Sanket Khanolkar–Siddhesh Kotkar, Prajesh Gawas - Aanav Kolwalkar and Samuel Gonsalves–Neil Punjani Bakshi were unable to overcome their seeded opponents.
In Boys U-17, Owais Tahasildar and Devansh Sakpal fought hard but narrowly lost their Round 3 matches in three tight games.
Nationally ranked players lived up to their billing with a series of dominant wins.
In a major upset, Girls U-15 top seed Abhishaa Sree Saravanan (Tamil Nadu) was knocked out by Eshanvi C B (Kerala) in a thrilling three-game match. Second seed Mehvish Kaur (Punjab) cruised to a 15-3, 15-3 win, while 5th seed Nimeesha Ojha (Odisha) and 6th seed Aarshia (Gujarat) also registered comfortable victories.
In Boys U-17, top four seeds Avadhut Kadam (Maharashtra), Parth Gawri (Haryana), Sivacharann Ganesan (Tamil Nadu), and Parth Puri (Gujarat) advanced, with Gawri surviving a close scare from West Bengal’s Sayak Saha. Kaivalya Sood (Punjab), Sri Harsha Marka (Telangana) and other contenders also progressed to the next round, keeping the competition fierce at the national level.