Four boys' and four girls' teams reach semifinals of state sub-junior inter-district badminton in Pune

The quarterfinals of the Yonex Sunrise SBA Cup state-level sub-junior inter-district team badminton championship in Pune were closely fought. Four teams each in the boys' and girls' sections beat their opponents to reach the semifinals.

In the boys' section, the teams from Raigad, Thane, Buldhana and Nagpur moved ahead. In the girls' section, Pune, Nagpur, Raigad and Mumbai Suburban booked their semifinal places. The tournament is being organised by Sudhanshu Badminton Academy in association with Samarth Group.

The matches are being played on the badminton courts of the Modern PDMBA Sports Complex of the P. E. Society in Shivajinagar.

In the girls' quarterfinals, Pune beat Palghar 2-0 in a one-sided contest. Manisha Tirukonda Kumar, Sharayu Ranjane and Soyra Shelar played well in the win. Pune won both the singles and doubles matches to secure a place in the semifinals.

The match between Nagpur and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar was highly exciting. Nagpur won 2-1 to move into the next round. Vaishnavi Mangalekar and Sanvi Ghate played effectively in the singles for Nagpur. In the other matches, Raigad beat Mumbai City 2-0, while Mumbai Suburban beat Solapur 2-0.

In the boys' section, Thane beat Amravati 2-0. Vishwajeet Thavil and Mayank Rajput made a major contribution to the win. Buldhana beat Sangli 2-0 to keep its winning run going, with Devavrat Khandekar and Karan Sawale playing strongly. Raigad beat Satara 2-0, while Nagpur beat Mumbai City 2-0 to step into the semifinals.

Meanwhile, Indian players continue to win medals at the Asian Para Games 2026. India's pair of Nitesh Kumar and Thulasimathi Murugesan won silver in the badminton mixed doubles SL3-SU5 category.