JAIPUR: Rajasthan got off to a flying start at the North Zone Inter-State Badminton Team Championship in Chandigarh on Wednesday. Three out of four Rajasthan teams stormed into the semi-finals with a commanding performance on the inaugural day of the five-day tournament, organised by the Badminton Association of India.
Barring the women's side, rest of the Rajasthan outfits booked their last-four berth. Delhi edged out Rajasthan eves 3-1 despite Somyaa Bhatnagar's come-from-behind win over her senior rival Yashvi Bhat.
Rajasthan men launched their campaign by blanking Himachal Pradesh 3-0. Pranay Katta overcame a mid-match slump to outwit Shivansh 21-19, 11-21, 21-13.
Pranay, who trains at the Bengaluru-based Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, began well but lost the momentum in the second game. However, he regrouped himself quickly to seal the fate of his opponent by wrapping up the deciding game quite easily to provide a winning start to Rajasthan.
Harsh Chaplot consolidated the team's position by thumping HP's Karan Chaudhary 21-9, 21-13. Denish Shrivastava also did not sweat much in outclassing Shubham Patel 21-11, 21-16 to help his team win the quarter-final without any trouble.
Rajasthan men will now clash with top seed Delhi in the semis on Thursday.
Rajasthan boys also won their quarters without losing any match against the same opponent. Junior Indian shuttler Sanskar Saraswat won both his singles and doubles -- with Manish Phogat – as Rajasthan drubbed Himachal 2-0.
In the U-19 girls quarters, Rajasthan defeated Himachal Pradesh 2-1. Sixteen-year-old Parul Choudhary and Suhasi Verma of Jaipur won their respective singles in straight games.
RESULTS (Team Championship quarter-finals)Men's: Rajasthan bt Himachal Pradesh 3-0 (Pranay Katta bt Shivansh 21-19, 11-21, 21-13; Harsh Chaplot bt Karan Chaudhary 21-9, 21-13; Denish Shrivastava-Shubham Patel 21-11, 21-16)
Women's: Rajasthan lost to Delhi 1-3 (Tanisha Singh lost to Rishika Nandi 21-23, 14-21; Somyaa Bhatnagar bt Yashvi Bhat 17-21, 23-21, 21-17; Tanisha Singh-Vanshika Chhiba lost to Khushi Gupta-Likhita Srivastava 15-21, 11-21; Nancy Kachhwaha lost to Dianka Waldia 21-14, 15-21, 8-21).
U-19 boys: Rajasthan bt Himachal Pradesh 2-0 (Sanskar Saraswat bt Shivansh 21-15, 22-20; Manish Phogat-Sanskar Saraswat bt Pranav Chandel-Shivansh 21-14, 21-17).
U-19 girls: Rajasthan bt Himachal Pradesh 2-1 (Parul Choudhary bt Bharati Sharma 21-12, 21-14; Kavya Swami-Poonam Swami lost to Garima Verma-Pragya Verma 18-21, 21-14, 19-21; Suhasi Verma bt Pragya Verma 21-16, 21-12).
Semi-final line-upMen's: Rajasthan vs Delhi
U-19 boys: Rajasthan vs Haryana
U-19 girls: Rajasthan vs Haryana.
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