
MUMBAI, SEPT 17: If the state selection tournament at MIG Cricket Club will ever be cause for trivial chat in badminton circles at a future date, Amogh Kulkarni8217;s decision to choose that venue to announce his return would be a hot topic.
After playing hide and seek with the sport for two years, the Thane youngster showed glimpses of the promise that took him to the pinnacle in junior National doubles four years ago with a fighting 17-14 17-14 win over fourth seed Sanket Shetty in the semi-finals today. Two unseeded players will clash in the final, after Vinayak Puthran took out Mayur Tawde.
The women8217;s final will be contested by top seed Neha Gangolli and Krupa Telang, who upset second seed Meenakshi Wagh.
Amogh8217;s journey into the final has been impressive. He upset eighth seed Rutupurna Kulkarni and top seed Vivek Gautam in three games each in the rounds of 16 and eight respectively. Today8217;s game was another exhibition of his form, touch and power.
Results all semis
Men8217;s singles: Amogh Kulkarni bt Sanket Shetty 17-14 17-14, Vinayak Puthran bt Mayur Tawde 15-3 8-15 15-3.
Women8217;s singles: Neha Gangolli bt Nupura Bhide 11-3 3-11 11-3; Krupa Telang bt Meenakshi Wagh 11-7 11-7.
Mixed doubles: AR Choudhary amp; Kirti Kadam bt R Rohan amp; Kranti Sane 15-2 15-10, Bhushan Akut amp; Menakshi Wagh bt Kunal Vaswani amp; Neha Gangolli 17-14 15-4.
Women8217;s doubles: Kirti Kadam amp; Meenakshi Wagh bt Neha Gangolli amp; Kranti Sane 15-8 12-15 15-13.