National school badminton: Maharashtra wins three titles

The girls team of Karishma Wadkar and Lalita Katre pulled off a major upset against the much-fancied Andhra Pradesh team of G Ruthvika and K Harika. Karishma won her singles match against Ruthvika 13-21,21-15,24-22,while the duo beat their opponents 21-14,21-15 in the doubles rubber.

The Under-17 boys team was unfortunate to miss out on the title,losing yet again to Andhra Pradesh in a three-game encounter. Local lad Sudhanshu Medshikar lost to Jalil Ahmed 20-22,22-20,17-21. Medshikar managed to make amends in the doubles tie,beating Ahmed and Chaitanya 23-21,21-10,21-19. Shlok Ramchandran failed to deliver in the final singles,however,losing to K.P. Chaitanya 21-16,21-16 to hand Andhra the title.

The girls team kept the state flag flying high with a 2-0 whitewash of Karnataka. Riya Pillai beat Devika of Karnatake 21-15,21-12,then won the doubles rubber alongside Kalyani Limaye,beating Devika and Sangita 18-21,21-13,21-15 for the title.

The under-19 boys team bowed out in the semifinal against Haryana,who emerged eventual champions by beating Punjab convincingly in the final. They did manage third place,however,beating fellow semifinalists Gujarat.

The girls team was also unfortunate to slip up at the last hurdle,losing to the Kerala team in the final.