Raghu wins a dramatic last to clinch his maiden title; Devika romps to her first

Candy victory: Haryana’s Devika Sihag and Karnataka’s M. Raghu clinched their crowns in contrasting kinds. | Picture: Ok. MURALI KUMAR

In a thriller, Karnataka’s M. Raghu saved three championship factors to defeat Railways’ Mithun Manjunath 14-21, 21-14, 24-22 for his maiden Senior Nationwide Championship males’s singles title, on the Karnataka Badminton Affiliation (KBA) courts right here on Tuesday.

Raghu, actually, was not ranked excessive sufficient to achieve a direct entry into the draw and received in as a result of the KBA, satisfied of his talents, determined to offer him one in every of two further spots reserved for the hosts. And he proved what a clever alternative it was by nicking the humdinger and including the person gold to the historic crew title he received with Karnataka final week.

The ladies’s singles last, in distinction, had not one of the drama as Haryana’s Devika Sihag, 19, secured her first Nationwide crown with a simple 21-15, 21-16 conquer Telangana’s Shriyanshi Valishetty.

The boys’s summit conflict was the day’s final fixture, and Mithun and Raghu, each 26, ensured that the boisterous crowd went house happy. The 2 gamers have identified one another since they have been 10, having began enjoying collectively in Mandya.

That familiarity meant a lot of the badminton was cat and mouse. There have been extended, cheeky exchanges on the web, deft drop photographs, and highly effective smashes from each gamers that left the shuttle completely feathered.

Within the first recreation, Mithun was clearly the higher participant, going up 6-1 after which 10-6 earlier than profitable it to 14 factors. The tide turned within the second and Mithun was compelled to play catch-up. However he almost bridged the hole, making it 11-12, solely to see Raghu surge forward 18-14 and hit three consecutive winners to stage issues.

Within the decider, Mithun first led 12-9, then 16-13 and 19-15 however Raghu clawed his means again each single time. Nevertheless, at 19-all, a below-par serve from Raghu gave Mithun the primary of three probabilities to place the consequence to mattress. However the 2022 Nationwide champion fluffed it with an error into the web.

One other mistake and a terrific cross-court smash from Raghu erased the second and third alternatives. At 22-all, Mithun despatched a sharp-angled dribble broad, and Raghu bagged the title on his first championship level as his opponent’s shuttle sailed lengthy.

“Even at 16-19, I used to be considering of it as a four-point match,” Raghu mentioned when requested about his method in direction of the tip. “That places much less strain. I used to be simply considering of getting the subsequent level, forgetting that it was the Nationals”. 

The outcomes (finals): Singles: Males: M. Raghu (Kar) bt Mithun Manjunath (Rly) 14-21, 21-14, 24-22; Ladies: Devika Sihag (Har) bt Shriyanshi Valishetty (Tel) 21-15, 21-16.

Doubles: Males: Arsh Mohammad (UP) & Sanskar Saraswat (Raj) bt P. Naveen & V. Lokesh (TN) 21-12, 12-21, 21-19; Ladies: Arathi Sara Sunil (Ker) & V.S. Varshini (TN) bt Priya Devi Konjengbam (Mnp) & Shruti Mishra (UP) 21-18, 20-22, 21-17.

Blended doubles: Ayush Agarwal & Shruti Mishra (UP) bt Rohan Kapoor (Del) & G. Ruthvika Shivani (Pet) 21-17, 21-18.