Rithvik Sanjeevi Shocks Defending Champion Chirag Sen in Third Round of Sr National Badminton
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Bengaluru, Dec 21 (NationPress) Rithvik Sanjeevi S. made a thrilling comeback from a game down to eliminate defending champion and sixth seed Chirag Sen in the third round of the 86th Senior Nationals Badminton tournament held here on Saturday. The shuttler from Tamil Nadu faced difficulties after dropping the first game against Sen but staged a comeback to win 12-21, 21-19, 21-15 and will now compete against Raghu M on Sunday for a chance to enter the quarterfinals.
No major surprises occurred in the women’s singles as defending champion Anmol Kharb and last year's runner-up Tanvi Sharma both advanced to the Round of 16. Anmol triumphed over Krishika Mahajan with scores of 21-14, 21-14, while Tanvi defeated Swati Solanki 21-12, 21-8 in her third-round match.
While most title contenders progressed in the women’s singles, the men’s singles saw upsets with fourth seed Bhargav S, fifth seed Saneeth DS, and ninth seed Ravi all eliminated. M. Singh surprised Bhargav with a score of 21-11, 21-13, while Manish Phogat overcame Ravi 14-21, 21-14, 21-18. In the day’s final match, Rounak Chauhan concluded Saneeth’s campaign with a 21-11, 21-16 win.
In doubles, experience triumphed over youth in the women's doubles as Kanika Kanwal and Bharti Pal teamed up to upset sixth seeds Amrutha P and Radhika Sharma with scores of 25-23, 21-17.
Earlier in the day, Rujula Ramu stunned 10th seed Surya Charishma Tamiri 21-19, 19-21, 21-17, while Jiya Rawat came back from a game down to defeat 9th seed Shruti Mundada 25-27, 21-14, 21-10 in the second round.
In the second round, former champions Mithun Manjunath and Sourabh Varma relied on their experience to eliminate their younger opponents in straight games. Mithun beat third seed Bharat Raghav 21-9, 21-18, while Varma triumphed over Abhinav Garg 21-17, 21-17. Defending champion Chirag Sen also began his campaign strongly, winning against Jeet Patel 21-15, 21-15.
In the men’s singles, Rohan Gurbani proved too strong for 11th seed K. Lokesh Reddy, securing a win of 21-15, 21-1, while Raghu M defeated 15th seeded Karthik Jindal 21-19, 21-16.
Experience once again prevailed in the women's doubles with Kanika Kanwal and Bharti Pal overcoming sixth seeds Amrutha P. and Radhika Sharma 25-23, 21-17 in this premier national event.
