Sankar Muthuswamy, a step closer to title
The Hindu
Sankar Muthuswamy (TN) reached the men's singles final of the 77th South Zone inter-State badminton championship without having to work hard as Ayush Shetty (Ktk) retired midway through the first set. He will face P. Saahas Kumar of Telangana
Strong contender Sankar Muthuswamy of Tamil Nadu reached the men’s singles final without having to work hard as Ayush Shetty of Karnataka retired midway through the first set (11-8) in the 77th South Zone inter-State badminton (individual) championship at the RAK’s Badminton Academy courts here on August 13.
Shankar was made to wait on court for close to 15 minutes as Shetty took his own sweet time to reach the venue. But, when the battle began, the former played to his strengths to race to a 11-8 lead. At this juncture, Shetty, who looked a shade below his best, threw in the towel.
Sankar will now take on P. Saahas Kumar of Telangana, who got the better of T. Sidarth of Tamil Nadu 21-16, 21-7.
Men: Semifinals: Sankar Muthuswamy (T.N.) bt Ayush Shetty (Ktk) 11-8 (retd.); P. Saahas Kumar (T.S.) bt T. Sidarth (T.N.) 21-16, 21-7. Quarterfinals: P. Saahas Kumar (T.S.) bt S. Bhargav 12-21,23-21, 21-18; T. Siddarth (T.N.) bt N. Nagi Reddy (A.P.) 21-15, 21-16; Sankar Muthuswamy (T.N.) bt M. Nandivardhan (A.P.) 21-3, 21-8; Ayush Shetty (Ktk) bt Govind Krishna Iyer.
Women: Semifinals: Shriyanshi Valishetty bt R. Jananikaa (Py) 21-16, 21-9; N. Jahnavi (A.P.) bt Vijetha Harish (Ktk) 22-20, 17-13 (retd.). Quarterfinals: V. Shreyanshi (T.S.) bt Farza Nazrin (Ker) 21-17, 21-11; R. Jananikaa (Py) bt Gloria V. Athavale (Ktk) 21-14, 21-16; N. Jahnavi (A.P.) bt Akshaya Arumugam (T.N.) 21-18, 21-14; Vijetha Harish (Ktk) bt S.K. Andrea (Ker) 23-21, 21-15, 21-19.
Boys: U-19: Quarterfinals: Anish Raj (T.N.) bt Abhinav Garg (Ktk) 21-16, 21-18; Harshit Tummala (T.S.) bt Nak Komal (A.P.) 21-11, 21-6; S. Abhishek (Ker) bt Araffath Kumaran (Py) 21-17, 21-9.
Girls: Muskaan Khan (Ktk) bt S.K. Andrea 15-21, 21-14; 25-23; Rishitha Pandey (T.S.) bt Akshitha (Py) 21-8, 19-21, 21-18; Farza Nazrin bt Jade Anil (Ktk) 17-21, 25-23, 21-19; Prasansha Bonam (T.S.) bt B. Prakriti (T.N.) 21-14, 19-21, 21-16.
Asian Games champion Avinash Sable opened his season in the 3000m steeple chase with a silver in the Portland Track Festival, a World Athletics Continental Tour bronze event, in Oregon on Saturday. He clocked 8:21.85s. Asian champion Parul Chaudhary took the bronze in the women’s 3000m steeple chase in a season-best 9:31.38s. Former Asian bronze medallist Sanjivani Jadhav struck gold in the women’s 10,000m in 32:22.77s, a time which was a second off her personal best, while Seema was sixth in 32:55.91s.