Senior National Badminton: Surya Charishma, Rithvik Sanjeevi clinch singles titles

Vijayawada, Dec 28 (IANS) Surya Charishma Tamiri rode on strong local support to register a come-from-behind win over Tanvi Patri while Ritvik Sanjeevi S. defeated Bharat Raghav to clinch the women’s and men’s singles titles respectively in the Senior National Badminton Championships in Vijayawada on Sunday.

The 19-year-old Vijayawada-born Surya Charishma got the better of Tanvi 17-21, 21-12, 21-14 in the women’s singles final, while Rithvik defeated Bharat 21-16, 22-20 in the men’s singles summit clash.

The much-anticipated women’s singles final between the local favourite and a player attempting to become the youngest senior national champion lived up to its billing as both players had their chances in the 58-minute encounter.

Tanvi took control of the match at the midway stage of the opening game, and it looked like she had frustrated her opponent enough to induce unforced errors.

One such error happened at 6-5 in the second game as Surya Charishma swatted a service return in the net. But the service judge had called it a fault for height, and that gave the eventual champion a reprieve. She then went on to win seven consecutive points to take control of the second game.

In the decider, Surya Charishma engaged Tanvi in long rallies at the start, and the tiredness began to show on the youngster. Though Tanvi tried to keep pace with her opponent, she clearly ran out of steam as Surya Charishma wrapped up the match with six straight points from 15-14 onwards.

In the men’s singles final, Rithvik relied on his superior defence and composure to overcome the challenge of Bharat Raghav. Having pocketed the opening game without any hiccups, Rithvik was under pressure in the second game as his opponent opened up a 9-5 lead.

The 2024 Odisha Masters winner bagged six consecutive points to regain the lead, and it felt like he would cruise to victory before two bad judgment calls allowed Bharat to fight back and even earn a game point.

But to his credit, Rithvik kept his cool and stuck to his game plan and wrapped up the match in 39 minutes.

The experienced combination of Shikha Gautam and Ashwini Bhat K. clinched the women’s doubles crown, beating second seeds Priya Devi Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra 21-14, 21-18, while top seeds Hariharan Amsakarunan and R. Ruban Kumar defeated Mithileish P. Krishnan and Prejan 21-17, 21-12 to win the men’s doubles final.

Earlier, second seeds Sathwik Reddy K and Radhika Sharma upset top seeds Ashith Surya and Amrutha P 21-9, 21-15 to clinch the mixed doubles title.

--IANS

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