Mixed results for city shuttlers

Pune shuttlers faced mixed luck on Friday at the Maharashtra Senior State Badminton Championship,with top seed and defending champion Nikhil Kanetkar withdrawing from his match due to injury,while unseeded Harshad Bhagwat shocked eighth seed Tom Thomas to enter the semifinals. The tournament is being organised by the Nashik District Badminton Association and being held at the Nashik Gymkhana.

Unseeded Bhagwat clawed back from a seven point deficit at 11-18 in the decider to upset Nagpur player Thomas 18-21 21-18 23-21 in the pre-quarterfinals,then got the better of fellow Puneite Varun Gujar to book his maiden semifinal berth.

Gujar got a walkover from Kanetkar in the pre-quarterfinals after the top seed pulled his hamstring during his doubles match the previous night.

In the semifinal,Bhagwat will face sixth seed Eshan Naqvi of Thane. The former state champion defeated Shubhankar Dey 21-16,21-9. The other semifinal will be an all-Pune affair between second seed Mayank Gole and fifth seed Nihar Tilekar. In the women’s section,the top players advanced to the last-eight stage without too much difficulty. Saee Purandare,Poonam Walimbe and Anuradha Shrikhande were the players from Pune who made it to the quarterfinals.