Jaipur: Padmaja Singh caused a couple of big upsets to hog the limelight on Day 5 of the Rajasthan State Ranking Badminton Championship at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium’s Indoor Hall here on Monday.Besides Padmaja, some of the other seeded players were also knocked out by unfancied players.In the U-19 girls singles category, Padmaja Singh rallied back superbly to stun second seed Mokshita Bhardwaj of Jodhpur 6-15, 15-13, 15-11 in a hard-fought 48-minute encounter to enter the quarterfinals.Thereafter in the women’s singles, she shocked former Indian team player and third seed Suhasi Verma, who retired hurt in the second game. Padmaja won the first game 15-13 and then took the match when Suhasi retired hurt while leading 14-10 in the second game.In the men’s singles pre-quarterfinals, Indian team member and second seed Shubham Patel defeated Shaurya Pratap Singh Shekhawat of Jaipur 15-9, 15-8 to book a last-8 berth.
The pair of Shubham Patel and Dennis Srivastava shocks third seeded pair of Dikshant Thalor and Sachin Jhajharia of Jhunjhunu 15-10, 11-15, 15-13 in the men’s doubles
In the men’s doubles, the pair of Shubham Patel and Dennis Srivastava surprised third seeded pair of Dikshant Thalor and Sachin Jhajharia of Jhunjhunu in a thrilling three-game match, 15-10, 11-15, 15-13.Top seed Sneha Lamba (Jaipur) entered the women’s quarter-finals after ousting her compatriot Utsava Palet 15-11, 15-13.Organising secretary Atul Gupta said that in the Under-19 mixed doubles, top seeded Bhanu Pratap Singh and Kavya Swami advanced to the semifinals.Meanwhile, second-seeded Jodhpur pair Manas Gehlot and Mokshita Bhardwaj edged past Jaipur’s Ayush Yadav and Garima Yadav in a thrilling three-game outing 16-14, 19-21, 15-6, to advance to the final four.In the women’s doubles quarter-finals, top seeded Jaipur pair of Sneha Lamba and Utsava Palet thumped Bhilwara’s Garima Sharma and Yashvita Mewara 15-6, 15-6 to enter the semi-finals.Organising secretary Atul Gupta said that the next round of the competition will be played from 9.30am on Tuesday.
