Bhardhvaj enters finals of Junior National Championships

Guwahati, Dec 17 (PTI) Sixth seeded Rahul Bhardhvaj of Air India scored an upset victory over top seeded Arintap Dasgupta of West Bengal to breeze into the finals of under-19 boys' singles competition of the 42nd Junior National Badminton Championships here today.

Rahul defeated Arintap 21-12 21-17 to set up a summit clash with the winner of the match that will be played between Aryaman Tandon and Abhishek Saini.

In the boys' under-17 category, fourth seeded Maisnam Meiraba of Manipur steamrolled Iman Sonowal of Assam 21-13, 21-19 to set a final contest with Amit Rathore of Madhya Pradesh who stunned the top seeded Dhruv Rawat of Uttarakhand 21-13, 21-14.

Top seeded Akarshi Kashyap of Chhattisgarh posted a comfortable 21-12, 21-16 victory over Trisha Hedge of Karnataka to book a berth in the final of the under-17 girls' singles category.

She will take on second seeded Malvika Bansod of Maharashtra who beat Unnati Bisht of Uttarakhand 21-12, 21-13.

In the girls' under-19 event, Akarshi qualified for the semifinals to stay on course for twin delight in the tournament after her opponent Aadya Variyath of Keral retired mid-way during the first game.

She will face Malvika for a spot in the finals who beat Dipti Kuity of Gujarat 21-12,21-19.

Seventh seeded Ira Sharma of Haryana pulled off an upset 21-15, 21-13 victory over second seeded Purva Barve of Air India to set up a last four meeting with Vaidehi Choudhari of Maharashtra.

Vaidehi beat local favourite Ashmita Chaliha 23-21, 9-21, 21-19 in a grueling encounter