GSC bags Motiram Cup; CCI Ullal trophy
Defending champions Goregaon Sports Club were made to fight all the way by last year’s finalists hosts Bombay Gymkhana before they prevailed 2-1 to retain their hold on the Motiram Cup (for men) on the final day of the IndusInd Bank-Motiram Cup Inter-Club Badminton tournament, hosted by Bombay Gymkhana here.
It was their state ranked Sushrut Karmarkar who stood out in GSC’s win as he outwitted experienced Sagar Chopda 24-22, 9-21, 21-9 in the singles and latter paired with Harsh Jagdane in the doubles decider for a comprehensive 21-10, 21-9 win over Ayaz Billawala and Shailesh Daga.
Riya Arolkar played a stellar role in CCI women retaining the Ullal Cup with a thrilling 2-1 win over Goregaon SC.
Riya not only beat gutsy Kalpita Sawant in a tough three-setter before she triumphed 21-18, 14-21, 21-8, but also was at her best in the door-die doubles decider. Riya paired with Vaishnavi Iyer to outclass Kalpita and Jyot Rekhi Kaur 21-15, 21-15 to retain the Ullal Cup for the fifth year.
But in the juniors final, it was the Goregaon SC boys and girls, proved susperior to the CCI juniors and won 3-0 with their Anamika Singh’s 18-21, 21-9, 21-9 win over Tarini Suri being the high point. Siddharth Bhuta, too, played his heart out while subduing Atharva Joshi 21-23, 21-9, 25-23 in a tension filled boys under-15 singles.
But the doubles pair of Akashan Shetty and Vikhit Bangera proved too good for Jaidev Menon and Rahil Parikh to seal their triumph with an 21-13, 21-17 win. Results (all finals): Men: (Motiram Cup): Goregaon S.C. bt Bombay Gym 2-1: (1st Doubles): Akshan Shetty/Kaushal Dharmamer lost to Mangrish Palekar/Sagar Chopda 18-21, 21-23. (Singles): Sushrut Karmarkar bt Sagar Chopda 24-22, 19-21, 21-9. (2nd Doubles): Sushrut Karmarker/Harsh Jagdane bt Ayaz Billawala/Shailesh Daga 2110, 21-9.
Women (Ullal Cup): CCI ‘A’ bt Goregaon SC 2-1: (1st Doubles) Kareena Madan/Natasha Daswani lost to Arya Shetty/Janhavi Jagtap 6-21, 4-21. (Singles): Riya Arolkar bt Kalpita Sawant 21-18, 21-14, 218. (2nd Doubles): Riya Arolkar/Vaishnavi Iyer bt Kalpita Sawant/JyotRekhi Kaur 21-15, 21-15.
Juniors (Kanji Memorial Cup): Goregaon SC bt CCI 3-0: (G-U-15 singles) : Anamika Singh bt Tarini Suri 18-21, 21-9, 21-9. (B-U-15 singles): Siddharth Bhuta bt Atharva Joshi 21-23, 21-9, 25-23. (B-U-19 doubles): Akshan Shetty/Vikhit Bangera bt Jaidev Menon/Rahil Parikh 21-13, 21-17.