36th National Games: Aakarshi, Sai Praneeth take home badminton crowns
Balbir Singh, United States
Gandhinagar, Oct 7, 2022: Second-seeded Aakarshi Kashyap (Chhattisgarh) stunned top-seeded Malvika Bansod (Maharashtra) to win badminton women’s singles gold at the 36th National Games at the PDDU Indoor Stadium in Surat Thursday.
Aakarshi, who has a 1-1 head-to-head record this year against Malvika, won 21-8, 22-20 in three quarters of an hour, overcoming a late attempt by the southpaw to take the match into game three.
B Sai Praneeth (Telangana) justified his best moment by taking the men’s singles gold after an intense battle with Mithun Manjunath (Karnataka). He eventually won 21-11, 12-21, 21-16 in 63 minutes.
At Rajkot, a gold dive through Surajit Rajbansi at the 1M Springboard helped Services take their gold tally to 41 thus far. With 26 silver and 25 bronze for a total of 92 medals, the defending champions have stood above all states and UTs.
Although Haryana has 25 gold and is second in the table, Maharashtra is right behind them at 24 gold at the time of writing. Maharashtra is also in the running for 100 medals.
Unsurprisingly, N Sikki Reddy and Pullela Gayatri Gopichand won the women’s doubles title for Telangana, making it a happy outing for the state with three golds to show for in the badminton competition.
Telangana had more reason to celebrate when their women’s basketball team staved off a brace from Tamil Nadu in Bhavnagar. Telangana beat Tamil Nadu 67-62 in a thriller, after leading 35-31 at halftime. Coming on the heels of her side’s 3×3 gold, this victory meant that the women of Telangana would complete the gold double at the National Games. Tamil Nadu’s formidable men’s team beat Punjab 97-89 after holding a 46-42 half-time lead to take the crown.
At the Sardar Patel Swimming Complex in Rajkot, the experienced Surajit Rajbansi and H London Singh took the top two Service medals. With a good execution of her routines, Surajit Rajbansi scored 275.35 points, relegating her teammate London Singh, who scored 254.75 points. This was the third straight 1-2 for Services in men’s diving.
“I feel good today. At the recent National Championships in Guwahati, I was not in my best shape and only won silver. I wanted to improve my performance and I succeeded,” said the 23-year-old, who was helped by a trained mind to calm his nerves. He helped as this time he was able to overcome his fears and give his best.
However, the highlight of the morning session was Aakarshi Kashyap’s win over Malvika Bansod in the women’s singles final. The Chhattisgarh player was quick and serious as her well-placed shots deflected past the error-prone Malvika. The Maharashtra star regrouped in the second game, but Aakarshi was up to speed.
“It was tough. There were two long rallies and she had a lucky point through a net cord to take the second game to extra points. But I held my nerve to win the next two points,” Aakarshi Kashyap said.
Sai Praneeth, 30, faced stiff competition against Mithun. “Any gold medal is good for any player. I am happy that I was able to get my first gold at the National Games,” said the Telangana star, adding that he was happy with the way he played, kept his cool when Mithun won the game in the second game and took advantage of his increased stamina. . to claim gold.
Ashwini Ponnappa and K Sai Prateek got off to a perfect start to their journey as a mixed doubles pair, scoring a 21-16, 21-13 win over Rohan Kapoor and Kanika Kanwal (Delhi). Ashwini Ponnappa was all praise for her 22-year-old couple. “He played a strong game. She hit hard and covered the court well. I am very happy to win my first gold at the National Games,” she said.
Results (final) Aquatics Diving 1M Springboard: Surajit Rajbansi (Services) 275.35 points; 2. H London Singh (Services) 254.75; 3. Anuj Shah (Maharashtra) 227.60 points.
Archery (Recurve) Men’s Individual Bronze Medal: Tarundeep Rai (Serves) beat Gaurav Trambak Lambe (Maharashtra) 7-3. Team Bronze Medal Play-off: Maharashtra beat Jharkhand 5-4.
Women: Individual Bronze Medal Play-off: Simranjeet Kaur (Punjab) beat Avani (Haryana) 6-2. Team Bronze Medal Play-off: Gujarat beat Assam 5-4. Mixed Team Bronze Medal Play-off: Jharkhand beat Rajasthan 5-3.
Badminton Men’s Singles: B Sai Praneeth (Telangana) beat Mithun Manjunath (Karnataka) 21-11, 12-21, 21-16; Bronze medals: M Raghu (Karnataka) and Aryamann Tandon (Gujarat). Doubles: PS Ravikrishna and Udaykimar Sankarprasad (Kerala) defeated Hariharan Amsakarunan and R Ruban Kumar (Tamil Nadu) 21-19, 21-9; Bronze medals: HV Nithin and Vaibhaav (Karnataka) and Shyam Prasad and S Sunjith (Kerala).
Women: Singles: Aakarshi Kashyap (Chhattisgarh) defeated Malvika Bansod 21-8, 22-20; Bronze medals: Aditi Bhatt (Uttarakhand) and Tanya Hemnath (Uttarakhand).
Doubles: N Sikki Reddy and Pullela Gayatri Gopichand (Telangana) defeated Shikha Gautam and K Ashwini Bhat (Karnataka) 21-14; 21-11. Bronze medals: Kavya Gupta and Khushi Gupta (Delhi) and Mehreen Riza and Arathi Sara Sunil (Kerala).
Mixed Doubles: K Sai Pratheek and Ashwini Ponnappa (Karnataka) defeated Rohan Kapoor and Kanika Kanwal (Delhi) 21-15, 21-13. Bronze medals: Hariharan Amsakarunan and VR Nardhana (Tamil Nadu) and S Sunjith and TR Gowrikrishna (Kerala).
Basketball (5×5) Men: Tamil Nadu beat Punjab 97-89 (At halftime 46-42); Play-off for the bronze medal: services beat Karnataka 94-67 (40-31).
Women: Telangana beat Tamil Nadu 67-62 (35-31); Bronze medal play-off: Kerala beat Madhya Pradesh 75-62 (33-32).
Men’s Soccer: Group A: Kerala beat Manipur 3-2 (Break 0-1).
Women: Group B: Assam beat Maharashtra 2-0 (1-0)
Men’s Hockey Group A: Haryana beat Gujarat 7-0 (Break: 3-0).
Men’s Water Polo: Kerala beat Maharashtra 7-6; Punjab beat Manipur 8-7.
Women: Karnataka beat Manipur 13-2; Bengal beat Kerala beat 10-8.