Vijayawada: Women’s top seed Unnati Hooda, world junior championships silver medallists Tanvi Sharma, the experienced Aakarshi Kashyap, and upcoming junior Rounak Chauhan registered convincing wins to advance in the 87th Senior National Badminton Championships on Wednesday.
Unnati, who had a bye in the first round, hammered wildcard entrant Akanksha Matte 21-8, 21-18, while Tanvi began her campaign with a 21-10, 21-14 victory over the Asian U-15 girls singles gold medallist Shaina Manimuthu.
Also advancing to the next round were the experienced Aakarshi, who defeated Asian U-17 championships silver medallist Lakshya Rajesh 21-7, 21-9, while Ashmita Chaliha got the better of Kavya Marvaniya 21-7, 21-11.
16th seed Purva Barve was the only seeded player to bite the dust as she went down 21-19, 17-21, 18-21 against M Meghana Reddy in the Round of 64.
In the men’s singles event, the 11th-seeded Chauhan defeated Ranveer Singh 21-9, 21-13, while 12th 12th-seeded D. S. Saneeth beat Ankit Mondal 21-7, 21-11 to book their spots in the next round.
The 16th seed and Guwahati Masters Super 100 champions, Sanskar Saraswat, also began his campaign in style with a 21-11, 21-13 win over Shikhar Rallan.
Earlier in the month, Unnati Hooda and Kiran George claimed the women’s and men’s singles titles, respectively, in the Odisha Masters 2025, a BWF World Tour Super 100 tournament, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Cuttack, on Sunday.
In the women’s singles final, top seed Hooda produced a composed performance to defeat compatriot Isharani Baruah 21-17, 21-10 in just over half an hour. Hooda controlled the rallies from the outset, denying Baruah the momentum that had powered her impressive run through the draw. Despite the loss, Baruah capped a memorable week with a well-earned silver medal after a series of standout performances.
The men’s singles final witnessed a gripping contest, with second seed George prevailing over Indonesia’s Muhamad Yusuf in a hard-fought three-game battle. George took the opening game 21-14 before Yusuf fought back to level the match.
(IANS)
