85th Senior National Badminton Championships: Bharat Raghav and Tanvi Sharma upset top seeds Lakshya Sen and Aakarshi Kashyap in the quarterfinals
The prestigious 85th Senior National Badminton Championships, currently underway in Guwahati, witnessed a series of intense pre-quarterfinal and quarterfinal matches on Friday, December 22. The day's standout moments were the remarkable performances of several young and upcoming players.
In a gripping men's singles quarterfinal clash, Haryana's rising star, Bharat Raghav, managed to upset top seed Lakshya Sen. Meanwhile, 15-year-old Tanvi Sharma from Punjab ousted the top-seeded and highly experienced Aakarshi Kashyap.
A closer look at some of the results and upcoming matches
The quarterfinal clash between Lakshya Sen and Bharat Raghav, lasting just under an hour, saw Raghav secure a hard-fought 21-15, 10-21, 21-17 victory. Raghav will now face Telangana's M. Tharun, the fourth seed, in the semifinal.
Tharun M. has been playing some excellent badminton in recent months. The shuttler from Telangana won the National Games held in Goa in October and is now looking to win his first senior national title.
Unlike Raghav’s match, Tharun’s quarterfinal clash was much more comfortable. He got the better of Maharashtra’s Varun Kapur, who retired in the second game after losing the first.
The other two men’s singles semifinalists are second seed Kiran George and Chirag Sen, who overcame third seed Kartikey Gulshan Kumar earlier in the tournament.
In the women's singles category, teenager Tanvi Sharma from Punjab exhibited a level of maturity beyond her years as she defeated top-seed Aakarshi Kashyap of Chhattisgarh in the quarterfinal 21-15, 22-20.
Tanvi will now face Isharani Baruah, who secured her place in the last four by defeating Shriyanshi Valishetty. The second women's singles semifinal will see Anmol Kharb take on the second-seeded Ashmita Chaliha.
In the men's doubles category, the top-seeded pair of Krishna Prasad G and Vishnuvardhan Goud P got the better of Surya Ashith and Vaibhaav 22-20, 21-19.
They will take on the fourth seed duo of Hariharan Amsakarunan and Ruban Kumar R. in the semifinal. Meanwhile, P Naveen and V Lokesh will go up against the sixth seeds, K Pruthvi Roy and Suraj Goala, in the other semifinal match.
The women's doubles semifinal will witness the fifth-seeded pair of Ritika Thaker and Simran Singhi taking on P Amrutha and Pranjal Prabhu Chimulkar. In the other semifinal, the third-seeded duo of Priya Devi Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra will face Maharashtra’s Mrunmayee Deshpande and Prerana Alvekar.
In the mixed doubles category, the sixth-seeded pair of Nitin Kumar and Navdha Manglam will compete against the third-seeded HV Nithin and Maneesha K in the semifinal. Odisha Masters 2023 winners, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto, will take on Deep Rambhiya and Akshaya Warang in the other last-four clash.
85th Senior National Badminton Championships 2023 quarterfinal results:
Men's Singles (MS) Quarterfinal:
Lakshya Sen [1] vs. Bharat Raghav
Result: 15-21, 21-10, 17-21
Arya Bhivpathaki vs. Chirag Sen
Result: 22-24, 14-21
Mithun M. [8] (India) vs. Kiran George [2] (India)
Result: 12-21, 13-21
Tharun M. [4] vs. Varun Kapur [9]
Result: 21-7, 13-3 (retd.)
Women's Singles (WS) Quarterfinal:
Meghana Reddy M. [12] (India) vs. Ashmita Chaliha [2] (India)
Result: 15-21, 19-21
Aakarshi Kashyap [1] (India) vs. Tanvi Sharma (India)
Result: 15-21, 20-22
Shriyanshi Valishetty [10] (India) vs. Isharani Baruah [8] (India)
Result: 14-21, 21-14, 10-21
Mansi Singh [6] (India) vs. Anmol Kharb (India)
Result: 15-21, 14-21
Men's Doubles (MD) Quarterfinal:
Krishna Prasad G. [1]/Vishnuvardhan Goud P. (India) vs. Surya Ashith/Vaibhaav (India)
Result: 22-20, 21-19
K.Pruthvi Roy [6]/Suraj Goala (India) vs. Arjun M. R. [2]/Dhruv Kapila (India)
Result: 22-20, 23-21
Hariharan Amsakarunan [4]/Ruban Kumar R. (India) vs. Brijesh Yadav/Tushar Sharma (India)
Result: 21-10, 21-17
P.Naveen/V.Lokesh (India) vs. Akshan Shetty [3]/Deep Rambhiya (India)
Result: 21-13, 22-20
Mixed Doubles (XD) Quarterfinal:
Ayush Agarwal/Shruti Mishra (India) vs. Nitin Kumar [6]/Navdha Manglam (India)
Result: 21-15, 19-21, 16-21
H.V. Nithin [3]/Maneesha K. (India) vs. B.Hari Bharathi/N. Dhanyaa (India)
Result: 21-15, 21-12
Akshit Mahajan [7]/Ridhi Kaur Toor (India) vs. Dhruv Kapila/Tanisha Crasto (India)
Result: 10-21, 20-22
Deep Rambhiya [8]/Akshaya Warang (India) vs. Sharma Shivam/S. Ram Poorvisha (India)
Result: 18-21, 21-16, 21-15
Women's Doubles (WD) Quarterfinal:
Gayatri Rawat/Mansa Rawat (India) vs. Mrunmayee Deshpande/Prerana Alvekar (India)
Result: 16-21, 21-13, 12-21
K. Vennala/Shriyanshi Valishetty (India) vs. Priya Devi Konjengbam [3]/Shruti Mishra (India)
Result: 8-21, 12-21
Aparna Balan/Rituparna Das (India) vs. Ritika Thaker [5]/Simran Singhi (India)
Result: 7-21, 15-21
Amrutha/Pranjal Prabhu Chimulkar (India) vs. Anagha Karandikar/Anamika Singh (India)
Result: 21-18, 21-16