Sr National Badminton: M Raghu, Devika Sihag clinch men’s & women’s singles title

Bengaluru (The Uttam Hindu): Karnataka’s M Raghu saved three match points in the decider to beat former champion Mithun Manjunath to clinch the men’s singles title while Haryana’s Devika Sihag ended the giant-killing run of Shriyanshi Valishetty to win the women’s singles crown in the 86th Senior Nationals badminton championships here on Tuesday. Raghu, who upset top seed Sathish Kumar in the semi-finals, defeated Mithun 14-21, 21-14, 24-22 in just under an hour to win his maiden national title while Devika got the better of Shriyanshi 21-15, 21-16.

Junior National Champions Arsh Mohammad and Sanskar Saraswat added the senior nationals title to their trophy cabinet as they upset top seeds Naveen P and Lokesh V 12-21, 21-12, 19-21 in the men’s doubles final.

Experienced triumphed over youth in the other two categories, with eighth seeds Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani G bagging the mixed doubles crown while Arathi Sara Sunil and Varshini VS won the women’s doubles final.

It was the men’s singles final, which provided the grand finale to the senior nationals at the Karnataka Badminton Association courts as two players from the state squared off. Mithun, who won the title two editions ago, was first off the blocks as he clinched the opening game rather easily.

Raghu forced a decider by racing through the second game. And it was Raghu’s control during the net exchanges that made the difference, as he forced his way back from 15-19 to level the score at 19-19. But Mithun stayed in the hunt by earning three match points but could not convert either. In the women’s singles final, Devika took control of the match tempo quickly and then maintained her dominance to win in straight games.