Ira, Rajat emerge as champions in North Zone Badminton tourney

Badminton player Lalita Dhaiya and Balraj Kajla in action. Jasbir Malhi

Third seed Ira Sharma of Haryana and Rajat Rathore of Rajasthan won the titles in the women singles’ and men singles’ categories in the North Zone Inter-State Inter-Zonal Badminton Championships played at Panjab University Badminton Hall earlier. In the women singles’ final, Sharma ended the challenge of fourth seed Ananya Goel of Delhi with a 21-17, 15-21, 21-12 win while Rathore scored a 21-12, 21-16 win over Abhishek Saini of Chandigarh in the men singles’ final.

Playing with control and serving with confidence, Sharma claimed the opening game with a 21-17 margin against Goel in the women singles’ final. Down by one game, Goel made a comeback in the match and won the second game 21-15 to equalise in the match. Sharma dominated the proceedings in the third and final game as she won the game 21-12 to emerge as the champion. The men singles’ final was a one-sided affair as Rathore faced no difficulty in ending Saini’s challenge. Rathore pocketed the opening game 21-12 before winning the second game 21-16 to win the title. Earlier in the semi-finals, Rathore emerged as the winner against Oscar Bansal of Chandigarh as Bansal retired hurt with the score at 21-13. In the other semi-final encounter, abhishek Saini of Chandigarh scored a 21-15, 26-24 win over Manan Jain of Rajasthan.

Abhishek Saini finally claimed a title in the day as he ended the challenge of second seed Lalit Dahiya of Haryana with a 21-19, 22-24, 21-17 win in the boys’ U-19 singles final. Saini won the opening game narrowly 21-19 before losing steam in the second game to lose 22-24. The match was evenly poised at this stage with both the players having won one game each. The third game saw Saini winning crucial points and the youngster won the final game 21-17 to win the title. It was heart-break once again for Ananya Goel as she lost 14-21, 12-21 to Nikita of Haryana in the girls’ U-19 final. Nikita controlled the play in the opening game and won the game 21-14 before winning the second and final game 21-12 to emerge as the winner.

In the mixed doubles final, the pair of Balraj Kajala and Lalita Dahiya of Haryana ended the challenge of Varun and Jagariti Nashier of Chandigarh with a 21-14, 21-18 win. Kajala/Dahiya won the opening game 21-14 before claiming the second and final game 21-18 to become the winners. In the women doubles’ final, the pair of Barma Meena and Karma Meena claimed the title with a 21-14, 21-18 win over Kailash and Daman Rajkumar. Barma/Karma won the opening game 21-14 before winning the second game 21-18 to lift the title.