Bhilwara: Riding on a spectacular performance by Parul Choudhary, Rajasthan women’s and U-19 girls teams stormed into the final of the North Zone Inter-State Badminton Championship in Bhilwara on Thursday.One of the most promising young Indian shuttlers, Parul almost single-handedly led hosts to finals in both the categories.In the women’s semi-final, Rajasthan outclassed Delhi 3-0 as Parul won both her singles as well as doubles matches.Southpaw Parul edged past Delhi’s Rishika Nandi in an exciting first singles, which lasted 43 minutes.Sneha Lamba consolidated the home team’s position by winning the second singles with a hard-fought win over Dianka Waldia in 39 minutes.Parul and Kavya then combined well to oust Delhi’s Khushi Gupta-Ishita Negi pair to seal an emphatic victory.The left-right combination of Parul-Sneha needed 45 minutes to get the better of their Delhi opponents.Earlier in the morning session, Rajasthan U-19 girls edged past Haryana 2-1.
Parul Choudhary (right) and Kavya Swami of Rajasthan women’s team in action during the second day of the North Zone Inter-State Badminton Championship in Bhilwara on Thursday
Parul Choudhary provided a bright start by squeezing past Haryana’s Garima Kundu 15-9, 12-15, 16-14 in the first singles. The marathon match lasted for an hour and two minutes.Although Parul and Kavya lost the doubles narrowly in three games, Sneha Lamba did the job for the hosts with a convincing 15-12, 15-11 win over Saanvi Aneja.However, Rajasthan men’s and U-19 boys went down fighting in the semis.While Delhi rallied back to shock hosts 3-1 in the men’s section, Haryana dashed home team’s hopes with a nail-biting 2-1 win.The Rajasthan team faced defeat in the semi-finals of Under-19 boys. Haryana defeated Rajasthan 2-1 and knocked them out of the title race. Haryana will face Punjab in the final. Punjab defeated Delhi 2-1 in the semi-finals. Against Rajasthan, Haryana’s Vedant Pahwa defeated Yash Soni 7-15, 15-6, 16-14. In doubles, Jangjeet Singh Kajla defeated Parth Gawri and Sparsh Sood 15-6, 15-9 and leveled the score at 1-1. Later, Sparsh Sood defeated Vishal Chaudhary 15-7, 15-12 and ended Rajasthan’s challenge.
Manish Phogat of Rajasthan men’s team in action during the second day of the North Zone Inter-State Badminton Championship in Bhilwara on Thursday
Nishant Mewada, senior vice president of the organizing committee, stated that the individual competitions will begin at 9 am on Friday.The individual competitions will be held from 12.30pm to 4pm, and the men’s and women’s team championship finals will be held at 5pm He added that chief referee Vinay Joshi conducted the draw for the individual events in the presence of the team manager, joint secretary of the Badminton Association of India, and secretary of the Rajasthan Badminton Association, KK Sharma.
India’s top junior shuttler Parul Choudhary will spearhead Rajasthan Under-19 girls team challenge in the North Zone Inter-State Badminton Championship which begins in Bhilwara on Wednesday
RESULTS (SEMI-FINALS)Women’s: Rajasthan bt Delhi 3-0 (Parul Choudhary bt Rishika Nandi 15-6, 9-15, 15-9; Sneha Lamba bt Dianka Waldia 15-11, 12-15, 15-11; Parul Choudhary-Kavya Swami bt Khushi Gupta-Ishita Negi 15-10, 11-15, 15-12)U-19 girls: Rajasthan bt Haryana 2-1 (Parul Choudhary bt Garima Kundu 15-9, 12-15, 16-14; Parul Choudhary-Kavya Swami lost to Aradhya Jakhar-Ditya Jakhar 13-15, 15-8, 11-15; Sneha Lamba bt Saanvi Aneja 15-12, 15-11).U-19 boys: Rajasthan lost to Haryana 1-2 (Yash Soni lost to Vedant Pahwa 15-7, 6-15, 14-16; Jangjeet Singh Kajla-Yash Soni bt Parth Gawri-Sparsh Sood 15-6, 15-9; Vishal Choudhary lost to Sparsh Sood 7-15, 12-15).Men’s: Rajasthan lost to Delhi 1-3 (Pranay Katta bt Divyansh Rawat 15-17, 15-10, 15-9; Sanskar Saraswat lost to Vansh Dev 15-8, 5-15, 10-15; Shubham Patel-Denis Shrivastava lost to Param Choudhary-Divyansh Rawat 13-15, 13-15; Manish Phogat lost to Madhurr Dhingra 7-15, 7-15).
