CHENNAI: It was a mixed outing for shuttlers from Tamil Nadu in the ongoing Senior National Badminton Championships in Bengaluru on Monday. While top seeds Naveen P and Lokesh V posted a hard-fought victory to get one step closer to the men’s doubles title, singles players Sathish Kumar K (men’s) and Adarshini Shri NB (women’s) lost their respective semifinal ties.
In the morning session, the duo of Naveen and Lokesh beat Shaik Gouse and Prakash Raj S in the quarterfinals. Later, they posted a 17-21, 21-12, 22-20 win over fourth seeds Ashith Surya and Vaibhaav of Karnataka. “It was the toughest match for them but they did well to come out on the winning side. Lokesh is a smart player and was taking the initiative. Let’s hope they can go on to win the title,” said Venkatesh Nallusamy, Tamil Nadu coach.
Adarshini, who was unseeded and had caught the eye of many with her run, went down 13-21, 10-21 against 13th seed Devika Sihag of Haryana. The youngster, who recently started training at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, had packed off three seeded opponents during her course to the semis. “She did well to come this far and I’m sure she will build on this,” the coach said.
Sathish, the winner of the recent Guwahati Masters Super 100, lost 17-21, 17-21 against local shuttler Raghu M. Shriyanshi Valishetty, seeded 12th, beat the more-renowned Tasnim Mir (seeded 13th) 25-23, 21-13 in the other women’s semifinal contest and will face Devika in the title match. Raghu will face statemate and former champ Mithun Manjunath, who beat Rounak Chouhan of Chhattisgarh. Rounak, like Adarshini, had caused upsets during his campaign.