Bengaluru, Dec 22 (NationPress) Chhattisgarh’s Rounak Chauhan and Tamil Nadu’s Adarshini Shri demonstrated their prowess by defeating higher-ranked competitors to reach the semifinals of the men’s and women’s singles categories at the 86th Senior National Badminton Championships here on Sunday.
Chauhan triumphed over 14th seed Alap Mishra, who had previously eliminated second seed Ayush Shetty earlier in the day, with scores of 21-10, 21-16 in the men’s singles quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Adarshini overcame Shreya Lele with a score of 23-21, 21-12.
In the upcoming semifinals, Chauhan will compete against former national champion Mithun Manjunath, who dominated Sankar Saraswat with scores of 21-9, 21-9. Adarshini will face 13th seed Devika Sihag, who defeated Rujula Ramu with scores of 17-21, 21-19, 21-16.
Interestingly, none of the top eight seeds in the women’s singles category will participate in the semifinals. Gujarat’s Tasnim Mir, following her victory against top seed Aakarshi Kashyap earlier in the day, continued her strong performance by defeating seventh seed Isharani Baruah with scores of 21-16, 21-18. She will now compete against Shriyanshi Valishetty in the semifinals.
The top mixed doubles duo of Sathish Kumar K and Adya Variyath faced elimination in the quarterfinals, losing to the seasoned pair of Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani with scores of 21-16, 19-21, 21-14.
Despite this setback, Sathish Kumar, who recently claimed the Guwahati Masters Super 100 title, is still in contention for a singles championship after defeating Kaushal Dharmamer 21-11, 21-12 to secure his spot in the semifinals.
The day was marked by significant upsets in the women’s singles category, as all top six seeds were eliminated during the morning matches.
Defending champion Anmol Kharb, who recently reached the finals of the Guwahati Masters Super 100 tournament, was defeated by 12th seed Shriyanshi Valishetty with scores of 21-12, 21-15. Additionally, 16th seed Tasnim Mir triumphed over top seed Aakarshi Kashyap with scores of 21-19, 21-17.
In other matches, 15th seed Shreya Lele continued her impressive journey by coming from behind to defeat former champion and second seed Anupama Upadhaya 13-21, 21-18, 21-14. The 13th seed Devika Sihag maintained her composure to beat fourth seed and last edition’s runner-up Tanvi Sharma 21-19, 21-18. Unseeded Rujula Ramu also achieved a remarkable victory against fifth seed Mansi Singh with scores of 21-19, 20-22, 21-13, while 14th seed Sakshi Phogat ended the campaign of sixth seed Adita Rao with scores of 21-18, 21-19.
