Rohan, Ritika-Simran emerge champions in state badminton

NAGPUR: Promising city shuttler Rohan Gurbani justified his top billing in style to reign supreme in the U-15 boys singles as the Maharashtra Sub-Junior State Badminton Championship concluded at the Divisional Sports Complex in Parbhani on Saturday.
The 13-year-old was unstoppable as he registered a fluent 21-16, 21-16 victory over unseeded Prathamesh Halankar in a one-sided final.Rohan, a Standard VII student of Centre Point School, Katol Road, displayed his extraordinary talent to dominate the 27-minute final against Pune’s Prathamesh. Rohan, who trains under Jayendra Dhole, was the champion in the U-13 boys singles in Maharashtra last year.
Another Nagpur shuttler to impress was Ritika Thaker. The pair of Ritika and Simran Singhi of Mumbai Suburban thumped third seeds Sanashree Dhamdhere and Tanishka Deshpande of Pune to clinch the U-15 girls doubles title. With this triumph, top seeds Ritika and Simran continued their domination in the doubles. Ritika, a trainee of Ajay Dayal and Robin Simon, is a Standard IX student of Chanda Devi Saraf School.
Janhavi Kanitkar bagged the double crown. The 12-year-old swept the U-13 girls titles by winning both singles and doubles finals. Janhavi, seeded No. 2, halted the impressive run of fourth seed Rudra Rane with a facile 21-15, 21-13 victory in the U-13 singles final. Rudra of Greater Mumbai had upset top seed Aarya Deshpande of Satara in the semifinal on Friday.
A couple of hours later, Janhavi and her partner Aarya Deshpande pocketed the U-13 doubles crown too. The top seeded duo made the light work of third seeds Hrissha Dubey and Ritu Shah.
Similarly, Tanishq Saxena also grabbed the twin titles in the U-13 boys section. Mumbai Suburban’s Tanishq stunned top seed Varun Dave in the U-13 boys singles summit clash. The top seeded pair of Tanishq and Ameya Khond proved too superior for second seeds Darshan Pujari and Sushant Rawal in the U-13 doubles final.
RESULTS (All Finals)
U-13 boys singles: 2-Tanishq Saxena bt 1-Varun Dave 21-13, 21-18. U-15 boys singles: 1-Rohan Gurbani bt Prathamesh Halankar 21-16, 21-16. U-13 girls singles: 2-Janhavi Kanitkar bt 4-Rudra Rane 21-15, 21-13. U-15 girls singles: 1-Smit Toshniwal bt 6-Simran Singhi 21-14, 21-5. U-13 girls doubles: 1-Aarya Deshpande-Janhavi Kanitkar bt 3-Hrissha Dubey-Ritu Shah 21-11, 21-3. U-15 girls doubles: 1-Ritika Thaker-Simran Singhi bt 3-Sanashree Dhamdhere-Tanishka Deshpande 21-19, 21-16. U-13 boys doubles: 1-Ameya Khond-Tanishq Saxena bt 2-Darshan Pujari-Sushant Ravva 21-10, 21-14. U-15 boys doubles: 1-Kedar Bhide-Parth Ghube bt Harshal Jadhav-Suyog Lokhande 23-21, 21-18.