Karnataka and Haryana emerged as the winners of the men’s and women’s teams respectively at the 2024 Senior National Badminton Championships held at the KBA Courts on Thursday.
The host team put in a brilliant performance to beat their beloved Railways team 3-1 to win their first men’s title in almost fifty years. In fact, no one in the stadium, including Anup Sridhar, one of Karnataka’s best players, could agree on when the previous victory had taken place.
The Karnataka Badminton Association later confirmed 1977 as the year and the body duly announced an additional prize money of ₹6.5 lakh. For Haryana, memory was not an issue as it was its first victory. The additional prize of ₹5.5 lakh made it sweeter.
Karnataka’s success was made possible by two outstanding performances by S. Bhargava and the young pair of Nicholas Nathan Raj and Tushar Suveer.
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Bhargav defeated Junior World Championships bronze medalist Ayush Shetty in three games before Nicholas and Tushar defeated K. Pruthvi Roy and K. Sai Pratheek, runners-up in the recent Syed Modi International. M. Raghu secured the title with a 21-12, 21-10 victory over Siddharth Pratap Singh.
“We are extremely happy,” said Karnataka coach Jagdish Yadav. “The doubles was crucial. These two juniors [Nicholas and Tushar] know how to control fast shuttles. This is helpful in Bangalore courts and it has made a difference.
In the women’s competition, Haryana defeated Gujarat 3-2. Tasnim Mir and Shreya Lele won two of the three singles matches for Gujarat, but Anmol Kharb won both her singles and doubles appearances to help Haryana emerge victorious.
Results (finals):
Men:
Karnataka bt Railways 3-1 (DS Saneeth lost to Chirag Sen 21-23, 16:21; S. Bhargav bt Ayush Shetty 13-21, 21-18, 21-16; Nicholas Nathan Raj and Tushar Suveer bt K. Pruthvi Roy & K. Sai Pratheek 16–21, 21–9, 21–19; Raghu bt Siddhartha Pratapa Singha 21-12, 21-10).
Women:
Haryana bt Gujarat 3-2 (Devika Sihag lost to Tasni Mir 25-27, 10-21; Anmol Kharb bt Adita Rao 14-21, 21-17, 21-15; Unnati Hooda and Anmol Kharb bt Shenan Christian and Anjali Rawat 21 -8, 21:12; Unnati lost to Shreya Lele 21:19, 19-21, 15-21; Devika and Ridhi Kaur bt Tasnim and Adita 9-21, 21-19, 21-13).
