Vaishnavi-Karishma storm into All India U-19 doubles final

NAGPUR: The giant-killing run of new pair – Vaishnavi Bhale of Nagpur and Mumbai Suburban’s Karishma Wadkar – continued as they stormed into the U-19 girls doubles final of the All India Junior Ranking Badminton tournament at Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, on Friday.
The duo of Vaishnavi and Karishma first stunned third seeds D Sudha Kalyani and P Sonika Sai in the quarterfinals.
Later in the evening, the Nagpur-Mumbai combination got the better of Akshita Bhandari and Diksha Choudhary to enter their first major final.
The eighth seeded pair of Vaishnavi and Karishma will now take on fifth seeds Vaishnavi Iyer and JK Malavika in the final on Saturday.
However, in the U-19 singles, Vaishnavi lost in the quarters when the LAD College student went down fighting against the second seed Sai Uttejitha Rao.
Nagpur Results
U-19 girls doubles (quarters): 8-Vaishnavi Bhale-Karishma Wadkar bt 3-D Sudha Kalyani-P Sonika Sai 21-17, 21-7. Semis: 8-Vaishnavi Bhale-Karishma Wadkar bt Akshita Bhandari-Diksha Choudhary 21-9, 21-13.
U-19 girls singles (quarters): 12-Vaishnavi Bhale lost to 2-Sai Uttejitha Rao 10-21, 18-21.