Kaushik Vartak Stuns Second Seed Rajan Samant, Storms Into Masters Badminton Semifinals Showdown

Kaushik Vartak scored an upset win over second seed Rajan Samant, winning in three games to enter the semifinals of the Men’s Singles 45+, in the G D Birla Memorial Masters Inter-Club Badminton Tournament, promoted by Badminton Gurukul, at the Bombay Gymkhana on Sunday.

Vartak will take on Vikrat Karankar, whole top seed Sachin Bharati will meet Dhirendra Maurya in the other semis.

In Women’s Singles 45+, top seed Priya Ambekar and second seed Namita Mehta-Vijayakar advanced comfortably, while Ajita Ravindran fought through a tough three-game match to set up a semifinal clash with Namita. Priya will face Pooja Jhalani.

.In Men’s Doubles 110+, top seeds Gautam Laud/Shailesh Daga and second seeds Balakishna/Rajesh D Souza advanced steadily, with competitive wins from other pairs setting up exciting semifinals.

Women’s Singles 45+

Quarterfinals: Priya Ambekar [1] bt Anjali Parab 15-5, 15-7; Pooja Jhalani bt Safiya Anjum Farooqui 15-6, 15-6; Ajita Ravindran bt Sonal Battad 15-10, 7-15, 15-13; Namita Mehta-Vijayakar [2] bt Rashmi Ladia Bisht 15-7, 15-7.

Semifinals Draw: Priya Ambekar [1] V/S Pooja Jhalani; Namita Mehta-Vijayakar [2] V/S Ajita Ravindran.

Men’s Singles 45+

Quarterfinals: Sachin Bharati [1] bt Suchit Khobarekar 15-7, 15-7; Dhirendra Maurya bt Justin Joseph 15-8, 15-10; Vikrant Karanjkar bt Murli Subramaniam 15-11, 15-7; Kaushik Vartak bt Rajan Samant [2] 10-15, 15-6, 15-12.

Semifinals Draw: Sachin Bharati [1] V/S Dhirendra Maurya; Vikrant Karanjkar V/S Kaushik Vartak.

Men’s Doubles 110+

Quarterfinals: Gautam Laud & Shailesh Daga [1] bt Parthasarathi Patnaik & Rajiv Parekh 15-9, 15-6; Anis Badami & Vipool Patel bt Ashish Hilekar & Milind Gharat 11-15, 15-8, 15-6; Bibhash Chatterjee & Shiv Thakur bt Ajay Hinduja & Maneck Daruwala 15-8, 10-15, 15-4; Balakishna & Rajesh D Souza [2] bt Bimal Singh & Naval Bir Kumar 15-12, 15-9.

Semifinals Draw: Gautam Laud/Shailesh Daga [1] V/S Anis Badami/ Shiv Thakur; Balakishna/Rajesh D Souza [2] V/S Vipool Patel/Bibhash Chatterjee.

Mixed Doubles 80+

Quarterfinals: Shailesh Daga & Aparna Popat [1] bt Varada Dixit & Miitesh Arora 15-11, 13-15, 15-11; Shiv Thakur & Naheed Divecha [2] bt Kaushik Vartak & Sarla Kotak 15-10, 15-13; Mohan & Tejasvi Sawant Desai bt Vikrant Karanjkar & Priya Ambekar 15-11, 15-6; Hemant Duggal & Shweta Thakur bt Rajan Samant & Sejal Sheth 15-13, 15-4.

Semifinals Draw: Shailesh Daga/Aparna Popat [1] V/S Sandeep Mohan/Tejasvi Sawant Desai; Shiv Thakur/Naheed Divecha [2] V/S Hemant Duggal/Shweta Thakur