Amolika bags a golden double
LUCKNOW: Hosts UP Badminton Academy shuttlers, including young Amolika Singh hogged the limelight in the Dev Narayan Memorial UP State Badminton Tournament, winning as many as six titles, at the Babu Banarasi Das UP Badminton Academy here on Wednesday.
Amolika walked away with a gold doubles, winning both the girls under-19 and under-17 singles titles. Rajan Yadav, Siddhant Salar, Samriddhi Singh, Shruti Mishra too won titles for UPBA. While playing under-17 singles final, Amolika outplayed her colleague Mansi Singh 21-14, 21-10, before outplaying the same rival 16-21, 21-6 and 21-14 in the under-19 final.
After winning two titles, Amolika was also given Rs 21,000 for winning All India Junior Tournament held at Jodhpur recently. Dharmendra Soti, who had a bronze medal at the Transplant Badminton World Games, was also honoured on the occasion. Rajan Yadav didn’t lose his focus while beating Allahabad’s Ayush Raj Gupta 21-16, 21-15 in the boys under-17 singles final. Siddhant Salar too won at ease in the under-19 final, defeating Ankit Verma of Lakhimpur 21-14, 21-14.
Talented duo of Samriddhi Singh and Shruti Mishra too bagged a golden double. First they defeated the pair of Amolika Singh and Mansi Singh 21-12, 21-17 to bag girls under-17 doubles title, and then beat the pair of Shivangi Singh and Tanisha Singh 21-6, 21-11 in the girls under-19 doubles final.
The only setback for UPBA came in the boys under-17 doubles final when Meerut’s Abhinav Sharma while pairing with Bal Keshari Yadav of Gorakhpur defeated the UPBA duo of Rajan Yadav and Tushar Gagneja 21-18, 21-19 in the boys under-17 doubles final. Aligarh’s Akash Yadav and Harsh Singh won the boys under-19 doubles title, brushing aside the pair of Ankur Dhiman and Gaurav Naman Singh of Ballia 21-17, 21-19. RESULTS Boys u-19 singles: Siddhant Salar bt Ankit Verma 21-14, 21-14; Doubles: Akash YadavHarsh Singh bt Ankur DhimanGaurav Naman Singh 21-17, 21-19. Boys u-17 singles: Rajan Yadav bt Ayush Raj Gupta 21-16, 21-15; Doubles: Abhinav Sharma-Bal Keshari Yadav bt Rajan Yadav -Tushar Gagneja 21-18, 21-19. Girls u-19 singles: Amolika Singh bt Mansi Singh 16-21, 21-6, 21-14; Doubles: Samriddhi Singh-Shruti Mishra bt Shivangi Singh-Tanisha Singh 21-6, 21-11.
Girls u-17 singles: Amolika Singh bt Mansi Singh 21-14, 21-10;
Doubles: Samriddhi SinghShruti Mishra bt Amolika SinghMansi Singh 21-12, 21-17.