Arundhati shocks top seed Sampada

Unseeded Arundhati Pantwane of Nagpur shocked top seed Sampada Sahastrabudhe of Pune to storm into the women's semi-finals...

Unseeded Nagpur girl enters semi-final; Prajakta, Sayli too enter last four of state selection meet

Unseeded Arundhati Pantwane of Nagpur shocked top seed Sampada Sahastrabudhe of Pune to storm into the women8217;s semi-finals, in the 2nd Senior Maharashtra State Selection Badminton Tournament, organised by Padukone Shuttlers Academy, at the North Indian Association on Friday.

Arundhati, who trains at the Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad, took 25 minutes to overcome an error-prone Sampada 21-19, 21-12 in the quarter-finals that was billed as the match of the day between quality players.

Arundhati raced to a 7-1 lead to take early control in the first game that lasted 15 minutes. But Sampada, though feeling the pressure, recovered brilliantly to close in at 16-19 that included impressive forehand cross court drop winners.

Arundhati again surged to a huge 11-3 lead in the second game and dominated the rest of the game to fashion her maiden win over Sampada.

Arundhati set up a semi-final clash with the formidable Jui Agaskar of Thane who beat another Pune lass Rucha Kadam 21-12, 21-4.

Thane girls Prajakta Sawant and Sayli Rane set up the other semi-final after cruising to easy wins over 11-year-olds Akshaya Warang and Aishwarya Tayade, both products of Padukone Shuttlers Academy.

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While Eshan Naqvi, Prashant Bahatare and Nigel D8217;Sa, the top three seeds in the men8217;s draw advanced to the semi-finals, No. 4 seed Nihar Tilekar of Pune was shocked by unseeded Sagar Chopda 21-18, 21-15 in the only other upset of the day.

Results
Women Quarter-finals: Arundhati Pantawane Nagpur bt Sampada Sahastrabudhe Pune 21-19, 21-12; Jui Agaskar Thane bt Rucha Kadam Pune 21-12, 21-4; Prajakta Sawant Thane bt Akshaya Warang Greater Mum 21-5, 21-8; Sayli Rane Thane bt Aishwarya Tayade Greater Mum 21-8, 21-7.
Men Quarter-finals: Eshan Naqvi Thane bt Ankush Jadhav Pune 21-11, 21-18; Sagar Chopda Mum Sub bt Nihar Tilekar Pune 21-18, 21-15; Nigel D8217;Sa Greater Mum bt Varun Khanvilkar Pune 21-10, 21-14; Prashant Bahatare Thane bt Amey Joshi Thane 21-14, 21-15.
Men: 3rd Round: Eshan Naqvi Thane bt Aditya Pandya Mum Sub 21-17, 21-12; Ankush Jadhav Pune bt Harsh Jhaveri Greater Mum 22-20, 21-10; Nihar Tilekar Pune bt Nikhil Kolhatkar Thane 21-15, 21-12; Sagar Chopda Mum Sub bt Saurabh Parlikar Pune 21-14, 21-16; Varun Khanvilkar Pune bt Deeraj Kumar Thane 21-12, 21-12; Nigel D8217;Sa Greater Mum bt Firoz Mulani Mum Sub 21-13, 21-13; Amey Joshi Thane bt Prasad Shetty Mum Sub 22-20, 21-12; Prashant Bahatare Thane bt Chaitanya Naik Pune 21-8, 21-18.
Doubles 2nd Round: Sameer Bhagwat/Varun Khanvilkar Pune bt Owais Shaikh/Sanjay Purohit Mum Sub 21-10, 21-17; Mayur Tawade Mum Sub/Nikhil Kolhatkar Thane bt Abhishek Tulaskar/Sidhesh Raut Greater Mum 21-9, 21-14; Alok Singh Mum Sub/Yogesh Padukone Greater Mum bt Monty Shah/Deepak Jaitley 21-16, 22-24, 21-12; Eshan Naqvi/Bishal Das Thane bt Leroy D8217;Sa/Nigel D8217;Sa Greater Mum 22-20, 21-18; Aditya Pandya/Rohit Sadani Mum Sub bt Prashant Bahatare Thane/Ankush Jadhav Pune 21-23, 21-19, 21-11; Chaitanya Naik/Saurabh Parlikar Pune bt Vilas Kuwalekar/Sachin Bharati Greater Mum 21-17, 21-16; Abhidnya Sawant/Prasad Shetty Mum Sub bt Deepak Shetye/Anil Kulkarni Greater Mum 21-11, 21-14.