SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad Aug 14: Mixed doubles pair of Jharkhand Ananya Singh and Priyanshu Tirki won the runners-up trophy in East Zone Inter-State Badminton Championship 2023 concluded today at Star Badminton Academy, DN Street Harinavi Kolkata.
In the final played today, West Bengal’s pair Muskan Chatterjee and Dev Mukherjee beat Jharkhand pair Ananya Singh and Priyanshu Tirki in three sets of nail-biting final match by 17-21, 21-15 and 21-17.
Though the Jharkhand pair lost in three sets, they won the heart of badminton lovers and pundits through their outstanding performance. But luck and the home ground went against them in the result. Playing an aggressive game, Jharkhand mixed doubles pair Ananya and Priyanshu took the lead in the initial stage in the first set and maintained it till the last before winning 21-17.
In the second set, the encounter was even. Both the teams (Jharkhand – Bengal) fought hard for each point till last. Finally, the Bengal pair won 21-15. 3rd set also witnessed a similar proceeding but luck did not favour the Jharkhand pair and the Bengal pair won 21-17.
Earlier in the semifinal, Ananya Singh and Priyanshu Tirki, mixed doubles pair registered a facile victory over the Uttarakhand pair 21-12, 21-7.
In the women’s singles event, Jharkhand’s ace player Manisha Rani Tirki also lost in the semifinal before losing to Bihar’s Saloni Kumari on the way to the final by 17-21, 14-21. Earlier in quarterfinal stage, Manisha displaying her superb skill and stamina trounced Rashika Das of West Bengal 21-10, 21-10.
The coach and manager of the Jharkhand team expressed satisfaction with the performance of the team as well as individual players. “Of course, results do now show the real performance of our players but they made their mark in the championship in both men’s- Women’s, under-19 boys and girls events,” they said.
