34th National Games, Jharkhand

Staying true to his favourites tag, R.M.V. Guru Sai Dutt of Andhra Pradesh bagged the gold medal in the men’s singles badminton final, defeating Aditya Prakash 16-21, 21-10, 21-18. While  Arundhati Pantawane representing Maharashtra defeated P.C. Thulasi 14-21, 21-17, 21-15 in the women’s badminton final of the Jharkhand National Games at the Thakur Vishwanath Shahdeo Indoor Stadium in Ranchi on Monday.

Kerala dominated the badminton event at the 34th National Games, winning three of the six gold medals at stake here Monday.

Kerala won three golds, a silver and a bronze each. Andhra Pradesh came second with two golds. Maharashtra was third courtesy a single gold.

Having ousted top seed and statemate, Sayali Gokhale, in the semifinals yesterday, the Nagpur girl continued her fine run as she pipped Thulasi 14-21, 21-17, 21-15 in close encounter. In the first game, there were very few good points and many unforced errors from both players. However, at 15-all, Arundhati started attacking with full force and hit down-the-line smashes and crosscourt winners. Making unforced errors and playing well only in patches, Arundhati never looked like closing out the match. However, she came back from behind to oust Kerala”s P C Thulasi for the title.

In the men’s summit clash, Guru, an attacking player by instinct, exploited the defensive play of his opponent. In the decider, Aditya made many unforced errors from the backcourt and at the net. Trailing 7-11, Aditya came back strongly and even made it 18-20, but Guru closed out the match on his second match point with a forehand cross-court winner. The bronze medal went to AP’s K.M. Gopal and Sumit Reddy. His knowledge of Aditya’s game helped him, said Guru Sai.

“I know his play well. It was about keeping the line right and I was confident that I will wrap it up. Soon my game started working as I got the smashes right,” Guru Sai said.

The Andhra duo of Jyotshna Polavarapu and Nelakurthi Sikkireddy clinched the women’s doubles title beating Maharashtra”s Sampada Sahasrabuddhe and Pradnya 21-16, 21-18.

Alwin Francis and Arun Vishnu Sivaraj Anrevamm of Kerala beat Maharashtra’s Jishanu and Akshay 21-12, 26-24 for the men’s title.

Tags: Andhra Pradesh, Arundhati Pantawane, Badminton, India, Jharkhand National Games, Kerala, Maharashtra, National Games, R.M.V. Guru Sai Dutt