CHENNAI: For all the hype, top seed Gayatri Gopichand was humbled by 16th seed Aashi Rawat 21-16, 21-10 in the girls singles semifinal of the All-India Junior Ranking Badminton tournament at Jawarhalal Nehru Indoor Stadium on Saturday. For the Delhi girl, it was the second upset of the day after she defeated third seed Malvika Bansod 21-17, 21-6 in the quarterfinals. Aashi, Who trains with Gayatri at Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad, revealed that her friend was suffering from pain and was not able to give her best.
“I gave my best since it’s a selection trial for Asia Junior Championships. Gayatri is a good friend of mine. But she was in pain as her quarterfinal was tough. I hope I can go all the way now.” Tamil Nadu’s Akshaya Arumugam too made it to the semifinals, after beating eighth seed Mansi Singh. Maisnam Meiraba of Manipur beat Sathish Kumar of Tamil Nadu 21-13, 21-11 in the boys singles semifinal. Maisnam, who trains at the Prakash Padukone Academy in Bengaluru, outplayed Sathish. “Sathish is getting better and so have I. I’m happy to seal a final berth,” Maisnam said.
Former TNCA VP no more
The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association condoled the death of S Ganesan, a former vice-president and treasurer of the TNCA. “As one of the senior most members of the TNCA, Ganesan served the association in various capacities from the year 1992. The TNCA sends it deepest condolence to the family members of the departed soul,” TNCA said in a release.
Dinesh guides GA to victory
Riding on Dinesh Kumar’s unbeaten 47, Global Associates beat KRC by five wickets in the 50th All-India YSCA Trophy. Brief scores: KRC 150 in 30 ovs (Manikandan 44, Kishan 44; Kiran 4/31) lost to Global Associates 154/5 in 27.4 ovs (Dinesh 47 n.o; Durai 3/38). YSCA B 153/9 in 30 ovs (Manav 4/43) lost to Future Stars 154/2 in 23.4 ovs (Santosh 56 n.o). Naveen shines for YSCA V Naveen Kumar’s 43 propelled YSCA to beat RR Donnelley by six wickets in the GR Kuppuswamy Memorial league-cum- knockout tournament. Brief scores: RR Donnelley 158/6 in 30 ovs (Vinod 46; Daniel 3/35) lost to YSCA 159/4 in 26 ovs (Naveen 43). MoM: Naveen.
All-India basketball tourney
Coimbatore District Basketball Association will be conducting the 54th all-India basketball tournament for men and women from May 27 to June 1, at VOC Park basketball courts, Coimbatore. Entry is free for the public. The men’s winning team will take home Rs 1 lakh, while the women’s team will receive Rs 50,000.