PANJIM: Goa’s badminton players were handed a tough draw in the individual competition of the 37th National Games that begins on Sunday, at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium, Taleigao Plateau.
The State’s most well-known shuttler and former India’s No. 1 Anura Prabhudesai will face top seed Aakarshi Kashyap of Chhattisgarh while Sakshi Kurbkhelgi will open her campaign against India No. 4 Mansi Singh.
In men’s singles, team event star H Arunesh will have to find a way to beat India No. 6 Alap Mishra in the opening round before a possible clash against fourth seed M Tharun.
Karan Dhavaskar will face third seed Karthikey Gulshan Kumar in the opening round. Arunesh will also feature in the mixed doubles competition where he is partnering Pranjal Chimulkar. The pair will face Assam’s Suraj Goala and Manali Bora in the first round.
Meanwhile, Goa’s netball teams were handed a tough draw in the 37th National Games as they were clubbed together with defending champions Haryana in the group stage of the competition which begins on Sunday, at the Campal Indoor Stadium.
The men’s team have been placed in Group A and will open their campaign against Jammu and Kashmir. Maharashtra is the fourth team in the group with the top two teams qualifying for the semi-finals to be played on Tuesday, October 24.
In the women’s section, the hosts will begin their campaign against the formidable Telangana in Group A. Holders Haryana will kick-off their campaign against Himachal Pradesh in that group.
