It was a winning day for Neer Nehwal of Uttar Pradesh, as he scored a 15-12, 12-15, 15-7 win over Prasad Pritam of West Bengal in the fourth qualification round of the boys singles U-19 of the 29th Yonex Sunrise Smt Krishna Khaitan Memorial All India Junior Ranking Selection Badminton Tournament at Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex on Saturday.
Nehwal made a fine start in the match as he claimed the opening game 15-12 to take a 1-0 lead in the match. The second game saw Prasad regrouping and bouncing back to lodge a 15-2 win to have to restore parity in the match. The third and final set saw Nehwal playing with control and the Uttar Pradesh youngster pocketed the game 15-7 to seal his spot in the next round.
In another match of the same category, Sidharth Rawat of Uttarakhand ended the challenge of Mridul Bhiryani of Madhya Pradesh with a 15-4, 15-8 win to advance further in the tournament. Rawat made a confident start in the match and pocketed the opening game 15-4 to take a 1-0 lead in the match. The second game too saw Rawat dominating the proceedings and winning 15-8 to book his spot in the next round.
In the girls U-19 singles category, Chitwan Khatri of Haryana scored a 15-10, 15-8 win over Nikkita Joseph of Maharashtra to enter the next round. Khatri claimed the opening game 15-10 before winning the second game 15-8 to advance in the tournament. In another match of the same category, Mahnoor Kaur of Punjab ended the challenge of Lalthazuali Abigail of Mizoram with a 15-5, 15-13 win to rally into the next round. Kaur started the match high on confidence and claimed the game 13-5 to take a 1-0 lead in the match. The second set saw both the players giving their best, before Kaur wiining the game 15-13 to enter the next round.
It was joy for Ayushi Bhatt of Karnataka too as she scored a 15-11, 15-7 win over Ragini Jain of Uttar Pradesh to enter the next round. Bhat won the opening game 15-11 before pocketing the second game 15-7 to win the match. In another match of the same category, Priyanka Pant of Madhya Pradesh scored a 15-4, 15-9 win over Ayushi Doshwal of Delhi while Gargi of Uttar Pradesh scored a 15-2, 8-15, 15-11 over Sana Verma of Delhi.