SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad June 11: Ananya Singh of Jharkhand entered the second round of the girls’ singles event in the 66th School Games Federation of India (SGFI) badminton championship being played at Pullela Gopichand Madhya Pradesh Badminton Academy, Gwalior.
In the first round played on Saturday evening, Ananya Singh defeated Ananya Bisnoi of Rajasthan by 30-20. Ananya Singh dominated her rival right from the start of the game and took a massive lead in the initial stage which she maintained till the last.
Coach Uma Rani Palit said she displayed command in the game and got massive applause from spectators for her smashes and drops. Now, Ananya would play against a player from Arunachal Pradesh in the second round in the late afternoon.
After the team championship, the singles event started on Saturday. Each state had been allowed to field two players in singles events.
Jharkhand had fielded Yogita Bora and Ananya Singh, Yogita Bora played first singles and went down fighting. Ananya won in the first round and kept the hope of Jharkhand alive.
However, in the boys’ singles event, Jharkhand’s both players Harshit Raj and Niraj Kesri crashed out in the first round. Harishit Raj played in the first round and lost. Niraj Kesri had an encounter with Mohammad Jay of Karnataka and he lost the match 26-30.
Interestingly, Niraj Kesri took the lead in the initial stage of the match through the attacking game and maintained it till 20-20 but later he did not keep his tempo and lost at 26-30.
However, boys coach Mrinal Mohan Khalko while talking from Gwalior expressed satisfaction over his players in the championship and said that they did their best but luck didn’t support them.
