CHENNAI, Nov 22: On yet another day marred by the age row, second seed Air-India shuttler Chetan Anand and Railways Thomas Kurien entered the finals, benefitting most from the absence of reigning champion Sachin Ratti and top seed Abhin Shyam Gupta, scratched due to overage, in the 23rd Junior National badminton championships at the SAF Games indoor stadium here today.Chetan Anand beat unseeded Delhi shuttler Madhur Kalia 15-5 15-9 while Thomas Kurien, seeded four, trounced Andhra Pradesh's A Prithvi 15-7 15-4.However, the age row cropped up again on the distaff side when the reigning girls champion, top seed Divya Ramesh refused to take the court in the semi final match against Railways BR Meenakshi, seeded second, demanding in a letter to the organising committee that Meenakshi's medical examination certificate, X-ray report and court order which had certified her age be given to her. She took court after the medical report was given to her along with an assurance in writing that the X-ray and the courtorder would be given after receiving the same from BAI.Totally out of sorts, Divya then went on to lose the semi-final to Meenakshi 11-9 9-11 0-11 while in the other match, fourth seeded D Swetha of Air-India ousted Mugdha Bhagwat (Maharashtra) 11-5 11-9 to set up a title clash with Meenakshi tomorrow.ResultsBoys singles (semis): Chetan Anand (A-I) bt Madhur Kalia (Del) 15-5 15-9; Thomas Kurien (Rlys) bt A Prithvi (AP) 15-7 15-4; (Q/F): A Prithvi bt V Diju (Ker) 15-12 17-16; Thomas Kurien bt Rupesh Kumar (Ker) 15-7 17-14; Madhur Kalia bt Arup Baidya (Rly) 15-8 9-15 15-6; Chetan Anand bt Utsav Misra (UP) 15-3 15-6.Girls singles (semis): D Swetha (A-I) bt Mugdha Bhagwat (Mah) 11-9 11-2; BR Meenakshi (Rly) bt Divya Ramesh (A-I) 9-11 11-9 11-0; (Q/F): Divya Ramesh bt Aditi Biswas (Ktk) 11-0 11-5; BR Meenakshi bt Oli Deka (Ass) 11-8 11-0; D Swetha bt Pooja Patil (Ktk) 11-3 11-5; Mugdha Bhagwat (Mah) bt BN Ashwini (Ktk) 11-3 11-4.Boys doubles (semis): Sanave Thomas/V Diju (Ker) bt MadhurKalia/Arjun Kalia (Del) 15-5 15-1; Chetan Anand/Mitesh Hazarnis (A-I) bt J Santosh/Sathya Prabas (TN) 15-4 15-9. Girls doubles (semis): BR Meenakshi/ Parul Priyadarshini (Rly) bt Trupti Murgunde/ Gauri Narayan (Mah) 15-7 15-5; Devi Suma/ Fathima Mohammed (Ker) bt D Swetha/ Ketaki Thakkar (A-I) 15-10 8-15 15-3.Mixed doubles (semis): Ketaki Thakkar/ Mitesh Hazarnis (A-I) beat Sim Sim Salaria/ Bhushan Paithankar (Mah) 15-11 15-12; BR Meenakshi/Arup Baidya (Rly) bt Anumol Joy/Sanave Thomas (Ker) 15-8 15-2.Age row blot on badmminton: PrakashExecutive president of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) and former Indian ace Prakash Padukone lamented the unseemly age row in the competition this year, and announced after a meeting with the organising committee that the result of the team championship won by Railways would not be altered.He said the committee had turned down the demand lodged by Kerala and Assam with the former contending that it along with Assam be declared joint winners of the teamtitle, as Abhin Shyam Gupta of Air-India and JBS Vidyadhar of Andhra Pradesh were found overage. Prakash also said the BAI's annual general body meeting during the senior nationals in February would deliberate and try to find out a way out of the disputes over age. These things only tarnish the image of badminton, in which the country was looking up again following the good showing in the Commonwealth Games, Prakash lamented.Parents as well as the players have to cooperate, he added.
