Major Upsets Mark G D Birla Memorial Masters As Seeded Players Exit Early

Pooja, Ajita make final with upset wins

It was doomsday for a majority of the seeded players in the semi-finals of the G D Birla Memorial Masters Inter-Cub Badminton Tournament, promoted by Badminton Gurukul and hosted by Bombay Gymkhana, here, on Monday.

The top two seeds in the women’s singles 45+, Priya Ambekar and Namita Mehta-Vijayakar were shown the door, losing in contrasting fashion. While top seed Priya lost 6-21, 13-21 to Pooja Jhalani, second seed Namita put up a better fight before losing in three games, 14-21, 21-15, 11-21.

Seeded teams also lost out in the Men’s Doubles 110+ and the Mixed Doubles 80+. In the mixed doubles, the top seed pairing of Shailesh Daga and former international Aparna Popat were defeated by Sandeep Mohan and Tejasvi Sawant 21-14, 19-21, 21-9. There was heartbreak for the second seeds too as Shiv Thakur and Naheed Divecha were beaten by Hemant Duggal and Shweta Thakur 21-12, 21-16.

There was solace for Daga, however,who won the men’s doubles 110+, paired with Gautam Lad. The duo seeded first, defeated Anis Badami and Vipool Patel 21-18, 21-8 to make the title round.

Action will now resume on Thursday.

Women’s Singles 45+

Semifinals: Pooja Jhalani bt Priya Ambekar [1] 21-16, 21-13; Ajita Ravindran bt Namita Mehta-Vijayakar [2] 21-14, 15-21, 21-11.

Men’s Singles 45+

Semifinals: Sachin Bharati [1] bt Dhirendra Maurya 21-8, 21-13; Vikrant Karanjkar bt Kaushik Vartak 15-21, 21-15, 21-14

Men’s Doubles 110+

Semifinals: Gautam Laud & Shailesh Daga [1] bt Anis Badami & Vipool Patel 21-18, 21-8; Bibhash Chatterjee & Shiv Thakur bt Balakishna & Rajesh D Souza [2] 22-20, 21-9.

Mixed Doubles 80+

Semifinals: Sandeep Mohan/Tejasvi Sawant Desai bt Shailesh Daga/Aparna Popat [1] 21-14, 19-21, 21-9; Hemant Duggal/Shweta Thakur bt Shiv Thakur/Naheed Divecha [2] 21-12, 21-16.