It’s Karnataka men vs Railways while Gujarat women take on Haryana

Edging through: Railways’ Chirag Sen cracked open RBI’s Priyanshu Rajawat’s tight defence in the only close match of the contest. | Photo: K. MURALI KUMAR

Karnataka will take on Railways in the men’s team final on Thursday at the Senior National Badminton Championship being held at the KBA courts here. In the women’s summit clash, Gujarat will meet Haryana.

In the semifinals on Wednesday, Karnataka men beat Chhattisgarh 3-1, with S. Bhargav and M. Raghu winning their singles matches and the pair of Nicholas Nathan Raj and Tushar Suveer the doubles.

After D.S. Saneeth lost the first match for the hosts against Rounak Chouhan despite putting up a commendable fight in the second game, the onus was on Bhargav to get his team back on track. The 23-year-old did just that, beating Yash Yogi in straight games.

From there on, it was smooth sailing for Karnataka, and it would now be eager to make amends for the lost opportunity last edition when it lost to Airports Authority of India in the final.

The other last-four tie saw a blow-out 3-0 win for Railways over RBI, with only the Chirag Sen-Priyanshu Rajawat singles match resembling a close contest. Chirag had quite a task, for Rajawat is No. 34 in the World and has beaten Anders Antonsen (now World No.2) this season.

But the Railways athlete cracked open Rajawat’s tight defence and managed to keep the fleet-footed Gopichand Academy trainee in check to edge the match 21-18, 21-19. Ayush Shetty then dispatched Kiran George easily before the doubles duo of K. Pruthvi Roy and K. Sai Pratheek carried Railways into the title-decider.

The results (semifinals): Men: Karnataka bt Chhattisgarh 3-1 (D.S. Saneeth lost to Rounak Chouhan 14-21, 20-22; S. Bhargav bt Yash Yogi 21-8, 21-19; Nicholas Nathan Raj & Tushar Suveer bt Ishaan Bhatnagar & Ayush Makhija 21-18, 21-15; M. Raghu bt Harshit Thakur 21-10, 21-8); Railways bt RBI 3-0 (Chirag Sen bt Priyanshu Rajawat 21-18, 21-19; Ayush Shetty bt Kiran George 21-10, 21-12; K. Pruthvi Roy & K. Sai Pratheek bt Anjan Buragohain & Ranjan Buragohain 21-17, 21-17).

Women: Gujarat bt Uttarakhand 3-1 (Tasnim Mir bt Anya Chauhan 21-9, 21-6; Adita Rao bt Anushka Juyal 21-11, 21-8; Shenan Christian & Anjali Rawat lost to Gayatri Rawat & Mansa Rawat 14-21, 21-19, 15-21; Shreya Lele bt Akshita Manral 21-18, 21-17); Haryana bt Railways 3-0 (Devika Sihag 21-10, 21-15; Unnati Hooda bt Vaidehi Choudhari 21-16, 21-18; Unnati & Anmol Kharb bt Vaidehi & Kanika Kanwal 21-8, 21-11).

Quarterfinals: Men: Chhattisgarh bt Uttarakhand 3-1; RBI bt Arunachal Pradesh 3-0; Railways bt Rajasthan 3-0; Women: Haryana bt Karnataka 3-2; Uttarakhand bt RBI 3-1; Gujarat bt Assam 3-1.