Kaushal, Neha emerge supreme

Top seeds Kaushal Dharmamer of Mumbai Suburban and Neha Pandit of Pune emerged men’s and women’s individual champions, respectively, in the Khar GymkhanaMBA Senior Inter District & Senior Open State Badminton Championship.

A supremely confident Dharmamer took just 25 minutes to beat second seed Abhishek Kulkarni of Pune 21-12, 21-3 and Kothrud lass Pandit beat second seed Vaishnavi Bhale of Nagpur 21-19, 21-18. Bhale later made amends when she teamed up with Riya Pillai for the women’s doubles crown, and with Nihar Kelkar for the mixed doubles title. Abhidnya Sawant and Prasad Shetty emerged men’s doubles champions.

Khar Gymkhana president Sanjay Devnani announced a Rs. 3 lakh grant and free training facilities for 12-year-old member Manya Avlani who reached the pre-quarter-finals as the youngest player in the women’s competition.

“It was a close contest,” said a beaming Pandit. “I had few problems and held the advantage in the long rallies. The rallies were in my control and I focussed on every point.”

Pandit, of Income Tax, raced to a 6-3 advantage in the opening set while thriving on forehand drops, in a keen contest where each hoped to prey on errors. Bhale did well to recover for 15-14 when she grabbed the lead for the first time. She kept it close at 17-17 and 19-19 but Pandit went up 1-0 with winners. Trailing 5-12 in the second game after hitting wide for the most part, Pandit made amends and snatched the lead at 18-17 while delighting with a backhand net dribble for 16-17. Pandit, India No. 1 last year, surged to 20-18 for match point and pumped her fist in the air when Bhale hit the net.