Gujarat’s loss is AAI’s gain

Gujarat must be regretting the inability of Chipia Frenaz to turn out for them and instead playing for the Airports Authority of India. With her in ranks, Gujarat would have won the first round of Youth Girls team event against Uttar Pradesh. But, unfortunately, UP in a well-fought match, beat Gujarat 3-2, despite Hely Shah playing her role to perfection and winning both singles against Tanu Gupta (11-6, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9) and Suhana Narjinary (11-5, 11-4, 7-11, 11-13, 11-7). Pooja Singh for UP and Sanskruti Malpai were the weak links for the two teams, but the former came out 3-1 triumphant which tilted the scales in favour of Gujarat.

Karnataka surmount handicap

The case of Karnataka, too, was more or less similar to Gujarat. Both Shreyal Telang and Akshay Mahanta moving over to Dena Bank, Karnataka was handicapped. Yet, they managed to put it across Telangana 3-2 in a tough first-round Youth Boys event. Shreyas Kulkarni did the star turn for his team, winning both his singles—first against Snehit Suravajjulu (11-4, 11-13, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5) and then the decider, which was his reverse singles, against Saroj Sirill (11-5, 11-8, 11-1). The wins by Snehit against Rakshit Barigidad and Sridhar Harikrishna over Sushmith Barigidad were only good enough to equal the rubber.

Brief Results:

Youth Girls (1st round): AAI bt Uttrakhand 3-0, Maharashtra A bt Himachal Pradesh 3-0, Telangana bt Odisha 3-0, Kerala bt Goa 3-0, North Bengal bt Assam 3-1, UP bt Gujarat 3-2, Meghalaya bt Chandigarh 3-1, Rajasthan bt Andhra Pradesh 3-1, Karnataka bt Jharkhand 3-0, Maharashtra B bt Chhattisgarh 3-0, Tamil Nadu bt Bihar 3-0, West Bengal bt Punjab 3-0.

Youth Boys (1st round): Punjab bt Kerala 3-1, Maharashtra A bt Chhattisgarh 3-0, Delhi bt Bihar 3-0, Andhra Pradesh bt Meghalaya 3-1, Karnataka bt Telangana 3-2, Mizoram bt Tripura 3-0, Dena Bank bt Goa 3-0, Haryana bt Jharkhand 3-1, Rajasthan bt Odisha 3-0, Gujarat bt Pondicherry 3-0, Tamil Nadu bt Himachal Pradesh 3-0, Madhya Pradesh bt Jammu & Kashmir 3-0, Maharashtra B bt Uttarakhand 3-0, West Bengal bt Chandigarh 3-0.

Varuni, Nina clinch it for Telangana

As was to be expected, Telangana beat North Bengal, but with some struggle in the Junior Girls first-round team event. Varuni Jaiswal had to pitch in and win her first and reverse singles to outwit North Bengal while Nina won only one of her singles. Interestingly, two other matches, Kerala managed to cross the Odisha hurdle with a 3-2 verdict. Odisha, despite losing, stood tall thanks to Ananya Basak who won both her singles. But what made the difference was Kerala’s doubles win, paired by Gia Anna George and Nandini Menon. Shailu Noorbasha and B. Nagasravani combined well to beat the Madhya Pradesh pair of Anusha Kutumbala and Khushi Jain in the Junior Girls doubles which, in the ultimate analysis, turned out to be their winning mantra as Andhra beat MP 3-2 in the first round.

UP shock TN

Uttar Pradesh, with Sarthak Seth and Abhinav Belwal, upstaged Tamil Nadu in the Junior Boys’ first-round match, winning 3-0. It was surprising to see Tamil Nadu surrender meekly despite Ananth Devarajan’s presence. Not only did he lose his singles but also the crucial doubles when he combined with team mate Sachin Viswanath Sivaramakrishnan to draw a blank on the score-sheet. However, Gujarat boys made amends for their Youth Girls loss with a 3-2 verdict over Jharkhand. Nevertheless, it was a struggle for Gujarat against a lowly Jharakhand. to Aryan Bhardwaj, who won both his singles and doubles with Navjit Mokta, was the saving grace for the team.

Brief Results:

Junior Girls (1^st round): Telangana bt North Bengal 3-2, Maharashtra A bt Goa 3-0, Kerala bt Odisha 3-2, Maharashtra B bt Haryana 3-1, Karnataka bt Chandigarh 3-0, Andhra Pradesh bt Madhya Pradesh 3-2, Assam bt Jharkhand 3-0, Tamil Nadu bt Himachal Pradesh 3-0, Punjab bt Chhattisgarh 3-0, West Bengal bt Jammu & Kashmir 3-0, Uttar Pradesh bt Bihar 3-0.

Junior Boys (1^st round): Maharashtra A bt Bihar 3-0, Delhi bt Punjab 3-0, PSPBA bt Haryana 3-0, West Bengal bt Pondicherry 3-0, Chandigarh bt Meghalaya 3-1, Gujarat bt Jharkhand 3-2, Maharashtra B bt Odisha 3-0, Telangana bt Goa 3-0, Himachal Pradesh bt Uttarakhand 3-2, Kerala b Andhra Pradesh 3-0, Rajasthan bt Jammu & Kashmir 3-0, Uttar Pradesh bt Tamil Nadu 3-0, Madhya Pradesh bt Chhattisgarh 3-1.