Malvika, Ritika, Gaurav storm into quarters in Khaitan All India Junior Badminton

NAGPUR: City shuttlers Malvika Bansod, Ritika Thaker and Gaurav Mithe stormed into the quarterfinals of the 26th Smt Krishna Khaitan All India Junior (U-17 and U-19) Ranking Badminton tournament being played Panjab University Hall at Chandigarh on Friday.
Top seed Malvika trounced Mrunmayee Deshpande 21-8, 21-10 in the U-17 girls singles pre-quarterfinal. In a battle between two left-handed shuttlers, 16-year-old Malvika dominated her Thane opponent from start to finish.Malvika, who recently excelled in the Senior Nationals, will now clash with No. 12 seed Mansi Singh for a spot in the semifinal on Saturday.
In the U-19 girls singles too, Malvika booked her place in the last eight. Sixth seed Malvika, a student of Shivaji Science College, sidelined Adya Parashar 21-7, 20-22, 21-3.
The talented city shuttler will now lock horns with Gayatri Gopichand Pullela in the quarters on Friday. In their last meeting at Pune in the international junior tournament, Malvika had got the better of her Hyderabad opponent.
Ritika also continued her excellent performance to seal her spot in the last eight. Second seed Ritika thrashed Anupama Upadhyaya 21-12, 21-16 in the U-17 girls singles pre-quarters. Ritika, a student of Hislop College, will meet tenth seed Trisha Hegde of Karnataka.
The pair of Ritika and Simran Singhi (Mumbai) advanced in the U-17 and U-19 girls doubles.
Another city shuttler Rohan Gurbani went down fighting in both the U-17 and U-19 boys singles in three games.
In the U-19 boys doubles, Gaurav Mithe and Kevin Wong CC beat Tarun Gakhad and Arjun Mehta 21-17, 30-29 in an exciting outing.
NAGPUR RESULTS (Pre-quarterfinals)
U-17 girls singles: 1-Malvika Bansod bt Mrunmayee Deshpande 21-8, 21-10; 2-Ritika Thaker bt Anupama Upadhyaya 21-12, 21-16
U-19 girls singles: 6-Malvika Bansod 13-M Nivetha 21-17, 18-21, 21-11.
U-17 girls doubles: 2-Ritika Thaker-Simran Singhi bt Treesa Jolly-Mehreen Riza 24-22, 21-17.
U-17 boys singles: Rohan Gurbani lost to 6-Sai Charan Koya 29-27, 16-21, 19-21.
U-19 boys singles: Rohan Gurbani lost to 7-Dhruv Rawat 21-19, 18-21, 7-21.
U-19 girls doubles: 1-Ritika Thaker-Simran Singhi bt Nimisha Pandey-Sonali Singh 21-7, 21-10
U-19 boys doubles: Gaurav Mithe-Kevin Wong CC vs Tarun Gakhad-Arjun Mehta 21-17, 30-29.