Unseeded shuttlers Darshan Pujari (Pune) and Siya Singh (Thane) knocked out the men’s and women’s second seeds respectively in the quarter-finals round of the Yonex Sunrise Shri Nandu Natekar Memorial Maharashtra State Senior Inter District (Team) and State Badminton Championship 2024, conducted under the auspices of Maharashtra Badminton Association (MBA) and Badminton Association for Mumbai Upanagar (BAMU) and in association with ShuttleCraze and played at the Goregaon Sports Club courts on Friday.
Playing aggressively, Pujari dominated the rallies and outplayed his compatriot Yash Shah (Pune) charging to a straight games 21-16, and 21-18 win to advance to the semi-finals.
Siya played with plenty of grit and determination and did well to knock out Shruti Mundada (Pune) coasting to a 17-21, 21-17, and 21-11 victory and for a place in the last four.
Men’s top seed Varun Kapur (Pune) survived a scare from Nagesh Chamle (Latur) before clinching a 15-21, 21-14, 21-14 win to take his appointed place in the semis. Fancied and top seed Saad Dharmadhikari (Pune) easily defeated Mrunmayee Deshpande (Thane) 21-17, 21-17 to seal her spot in the last four of the women’s draw.
Results - Women's singles (quarter-finals): 1-Saad Dharmadhikari (Pune) bt Mrunmayee Deshpande (Thane) 21-17, 21-17;
Purva Barve (Pune) bt Ananya Gadgil (Pune) 21-14, 21-18;
Aarya Korgaonkar (Thane) bt Isha Patil (Thane) 21-12, 21-15;
Siya Singh (Thane) bt 2-Shruti Mundada (Pune) 17-21, 21-17, 21-11.
Men's singles (quarter-finals): 1-Varun Kapur (Pune) bt Nagesh Chamle (Latur) 15-21, 21-14, 21-14;
Rishabh Deshpande (Pune) bt Malhar Ghadi (Palghar) 21-10, 21-9;
Aditya Tripathi (Pune) bt Atharva Joshi (Thane) 21-18, 13-21, 21-12;
Darshan Pujari (Pune) bt 2-Yash Shah (Pune) 21-16, 21-18.
