Second consecutive title for Malvika Bansod in World Championship selection tourney

After winning the Junior Ranking Badminton tournament in Chandigarh, Malvika Bansod has proved the kind of consistency she is capable of by winning the second round of selections as well. Over the two tournaments and the subsequent results, the team for the World Junior Championships is set to be selected. Yesterday, she took the Singles title at the Yonex-Sunrise 27th Krishna Khaitan Memorial All India Junior (U-19) Ranking Badminton tournament at Panchkula. It was a repeat of the semifinals in the first ranking tournament as Bansod faced Gayathri Gopichand in the finals. After an intense and closely fought match, Bansod edged ahead after an hour and five minutes to finally win 21-11, 20-22, 21-15. After the victory, Malvika's coach, Kiran Makode, had this to say about her performance as quoted by the

Indian Express, “When Malvika came to train, her grip and footwork were not correct. She had a range of good strokes and is an aggressive player but sometime, she used to suffer a form slump in the second or third game. With time, she has learnt to control the pace of the game. If she can continue playing without fear, she can have a smooth transition to the senior level.” In the other categories, Dhruv Kapila and Krishna Prasad Garaga took the Boys Doubles title in what was a second consecutive win for them as well. They got the better of the top seeded duo of Sri Krishna Sai Kumar Podile and Vishnuvardhan Goud. The Girls doubles saw Srishti Jupudi and Ashwini Bhat bagged the girls’ doubles gold. Navaneeth Bokka and Sahithi Bandi took the Mixed Doubles Gold. The Boys Singles title was won by Priyanshu Rajawat who beat D Sarath 18-21, 21-17, 24-22 in 61 minutes for the crown. The Junior Ranking tourney in Chandigarh had seen the Boys Singles crown go to Maisnam Meiraba. Meiraba was not in action earlier yesterday in Panchkula and this might prove to be a slight hurdle in the way of getting selected for the Junior team. Aditi Bhatt and Tanisha Crasto had bagged the girls’ doubles gold in Chandigarh. As per reports, the Badminton Association of India is likely to announce the final team today.