Raigad teams win both boys' and girls' titles at state sub-junior inter-district badminton in Pune

Raigad won both the boys' and girls' titles at the state-level sub-junior inter-district team badminton championship held in Pune. The tournament, called the Yonex Sunrise SBA Cup, was organised by the Sudhanshu Badminton Academy in association with the Samarth Group. The matches were played on the badminton courts of the P. E. Society's Modern PDMBA Sports Complex in Shivajinagar.

In the final of the boys' under-17 category, Raigad beat Buldhana 2-1. In the first singles, Raigad's Kritya Patel comfortably beat Buldhana's Devavrat Khandekar 15-5, 15-6 to give his team the lead. In the doubles, the Buldhana pair of Devavrat Khandekar and Karan Sawale beat Kritya Patel and Mayuresh Bhutki of Raigad 11-15, 17-15, 15-11 to level the tie at 1-1.

In the last singles match, Raigad's Pragnay Shinde beat Karan Sawale 15-9, 15-6 to seal the title for Raigad. Earlier, in the semi-finals, Raigad had beaten Nagpur 2-0. In that tie, Kritya Patel beat Aditya Yaul 17-15, 10-15, 15-10, while in the doubles the pair of Kritya Patel and Mayuresh Bhutki beat Aditya Yaul and Sairaj Nayse 15-9, 15-8. In the other semi-final, Buldhana beat Thane 2-0. Devavrat Khandekar beat Vishwajeet Thavil 15-12, 16-18, 15-12, and the pair of Devavrat Khandekar and Karan Sawale beat Mayank Rajput and Vishwajeet Thavil 15-8, 15-9.

Raigad dominated among the girls as well. In the final of the girls' under-17 category, Raigad beat the Pune team 2-1 to win the title. Raigad's Anushka Ipte and Pranjal Shinde played key roles. In the first singles, Anushka Ipte beat Pune's Kyra Raina 8-15, 17-15, 15-10 to give Raigad the lead. In the doubles, Pune's Sharayu Ranjane and Soyra Shelar beat the pair of Anushka Ipte and Pranjal Shinde 15-13, 15-7 to level the tie.

In the deciding singles, Pranjal Shinde beat Samanvaya Dhananjay 15-11, 15-13 to clinch Raigad's win. In the semi-finals, Raigad had beaten Mumbai Suburban 2-0. In that tie, Anushka Ipte beat Spruha Joshi 15-12, 15-10, and the pair of Anushka Ipte and Pranjal Shinde beat Anika Taneja and Gargi Dabholkar 15-5, 15-7.

The winning team received a trophy and Rs 25,000, while the runners-up received a trophy and Rs 15,000. The prizes were presented by Samarth Group chief executive officer Parth Suryavanshi. Those present included Raigad Badminton Association senior vice-president Ravindra Bhagat, Maharashtra Badminton Association (MBA) executive committee member Vishwas Deshvandikar, PDMBA tournament secretary Rajiv Bag and tournament secretary Sudhanshu Medsikar, among others.