Dominant Shaina bags another double crown

Bengaluru: Top seed Shaina Manimuthu of Karnataka clinched a memorable double at the all-India sub-junior (U-13) ranking badminton tournament in Bhubaneswar recently.Shaina, who wore a double crown at the all-India tournament at Gaya, Bihar, last month, eased past second seed Hamsini Chadaram of Telangana in straight games at 21-11, 21-8 in the 20-minute singles final.In the semifinals, Shaina, who trains at the Mohan Kumar Badminton Academy, got the better of Sharayu Ranjane (Mah) 21-16, 21-16.Later, Shaina combined well with Jesicca Neyi Saring of Arunachal Pradesh to put out Hamsini (Tel) and Navika Somani (MP) 21-16, 21-14 in the doubles final. Shaina and Jesicca had topped the heap in the doubles at the Gaya event.However, Sai Pushkar, the top seed from Karnataka among boys, suffered a shock loss in the semifinals to qualifier Harsha Vardhan BL of Andhra Pradesh. Pushkar, who trains at the Selenite Badminton Academy, bagged the first game with ease, dropped the next before crashing out 21-13, 12-21, 21-23 in 54 minutes.Pushkar and his partner Eswar Sai Katam, who were the top seeds in doubles, went down to third seeds Aaryan Bhatt (UP) and Shaurya Singh Rana (Utr) 14-21, 17-21 in the semifinals.Results: Girls: Final: 1-Shaina Manimuthu (Kar) bt 2-Hamsini Chadaram (Tel) 21-11, 21-8. Semifinals: bt 12-Sharayu Ranjane (Mah) 21-16, 21-16. Quarterfinals: bt Dhanya SJ 21-11, 21-7.Doubles: Final: 1-Shaina (Kar) / Jesicca Neyi Saring (ANP) bt Hamsini (Tel) / Navika Somani (MP) 21-16, 21-14. Semis: bt Bhavanthiga R / Dhanya SJ (TN) 21-14, 21-10. Quarters: bt 6-Aryama Chakraborty / Pratistha Paul (WB) 21-14, 21-7.