Rohan Gurbani takes Maharashtra’s best in stride to enter state badminton semis

NAGPUR: Rohan Gurbani regained his lost momentum on Tuesday. Making the most of his home crowd support, the 19-year-old toppled the applecart of top seed Arya Bhivpathaki in a thrilling tie to seal his semifinal spot in the Nandu Natekar Memorial Maharashtra State Senior Badminton Championship at the Divisional Sports Complex, Mankapur.
Having had a not so satisfactory show in recent tournaments, Rohan ensured he played top game in his first state senior event in the men’s singles event.Paired against Maharashtra’s best singles shuttler in the quarterfinal, Rohan played perfectly with a plan to “kill the game with hard hitting smashes”.
Rohan’s strategy paid dividends as he didn’t give Arya time to settle and won the thrill-a-minute quarterfinal 25-23, 24-22 in 45 minutes. After winning the neck-and-neck first game 25-23, Rohan had four match points (20-16) in the second and the local crowd of coaches and players behind him. Rohan’s supporters witnessed some anxious moments when Arya brought parity by winning four-straight points. Rohan kept his cool in the dying stage and sealed Arya’s fate 24-22.
“This win today against Pune’s No. 1 player gave me a lot of confidence and will surely help me regain momentum. There were some long rallies and I had to finish the game with strong smashes while accelerating my speed. Thankfully, I was accurate in my shots,” Rohan told TOI.
Guiding him from the sidelines was his childhood coach Ajay Dayal. On the thrilling win Dayal said, “Rohan looked confident in all situations today. His attacking game helped him win the contest.”
RITIKA IN WOMEN’S, MIXED DOUBLES SF
City’s doubles specialist Ritika Thaker lived up to her reputation and assured herself of twin medals by qualifying for the semifinals of the women’s and mixed doubles event. In the women’s doubles quarterfinal, Ritika and her Mumbai partner Simran Singhi defeated Chaitali Nayse and Shruti Bhoir 21-13, 21-12. Later in the mixed doubles quarterfinal, the fourth seeded pair of Ritika and Deep Rambhiya outplayed the duo of Harsh Sharma and Ananya Durugkar 21-8, 21-12 in 23 minutes.
NIKKITA ASSURES MAIDEN SENIOR MEDAL
17-year-old city shuttler Nikkita Joseph with her Aurangabad partner Sonali Mirkhelkar rallied superbly in back-to-back marathon contests to reach the women’s doubles semifinal stage and assure herself the first medal at the senior level.
In the quarterfinal, the Nagpur-Aurangabad duo of Nikkita and Sonali registered a come-from-behind victory over Anagha Karandikar and Mahek Nayak 18-21, 21-16, 21-19. The exciting contest lasted 53 minutes.
Earlier in the afternoon, Nikkita and Sonali saved four match points (16-20) in the decider to get the better of Aarti Chougale and Manali Parulekar 21-12, 15-21, 22-20 in the 47-minute contest.
Nikkita’s coach Chetak Khedikar said, “Today Nikkita and Sonali played two marathon matches. Despite being down 16-20 in the pre-quarterfinal, they bounced back by scoring six straight points with some attacking play. Within some hours they played the quarterfinal and made a good switch from attacking play to a strategic game of placements with drop shots.”
RESULTS (all quarterfinals)
SINGLES (MEN): 8-Rohan Gurbani bt 1-Arya Bhivpathaki 25-23, 24-22; Varun Kapur bt Pranay Shettigar 15-21, 21-11, 21-16; Darshan Pujari bt Wasim Shaikh 23-21, 21-12; Rahoul Kanne bt Aniket Bandgar 21-16, 21-16.
WOMEN: 1-Neha Pandit bt Rhucha Sawant 21-16, 21-13; 4-Vaidehi Choudhari bt Bhargavi Rambhad 21-10, 21-10; Aarti Chougale bt Krisha Soni 21-15, 21-17; 2-Purva Barve bt Prerana Alvekar 21-15, 18-21, 21-9.
WOMEN DOUBLES: 1-Ritika Thaker-Simran Singhi bt Chaitali Nayse-Shruti Bhoir 21-13, 21-12; Purva Barve-Rhucha Sawant bt Saniya Tapkir-Yogita Salve 21-18, 25-27, 21-14; Nikkita Joseph-Sonali Mirkhelkar bt Anagha Karandikar-Mahek Nayak 18-21, 21-16, 21-19; 2-Akshaya Warang-Harika Veludurthi bt Anamika Singh-Mansee Kareker 21-12, 21-13.
MIXED DOUBLES
4-Deep Rambhiya-Ritika Thaker bt Harsh Sharma-Ananya Durugkar 21-8, 21-12; 1-Pratik Ranade-Akshaya Warang bt Arya Thakore-Mahek Nayak 21-18, 21-12; 3-Akshan Shetty-Simran Singhi bt Dhruv Thakore-Nikkita Joseph 21-13, 21-12; 2-Vighnesh Devlekar-Sanyogita Ghorpade bt Shubham Patil-Anagha Karandikar 21-13, 21-13.