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India had double delight at the Turkey Junior 2017 in Ankara on Saturday with Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka and Kartikey Gulshan Kumar winning titles in women’s singles U-19 and men’s singles U-19 categories respectively. The 15-year-old Jakka, who was the top seed at this tournament, had it easier of the two as she needed just 28 minutes to dismiss the challenge of the second seeded Anastasiia Pustinskaia of Russia, 21-18, 21-17.
The 17-year-old Kumar, who also received the top billing in his category, had to work harder for a 21-13, 12-21, 21-17 win over the second seeded Arnaud Merkle of France in 50 minutes.
Jakka is currently India’s only top 10 player in women’s singles of the world junior rankings. She jumped three spots this week to reach the 10th position. The youngster has been making rapid strides over the last few months. Just last week, she triumphed at the South Africa International Series which sent her shooting 29 rungs up to a career-high 102nd in the senior world rankings.
The teenager was brilliant throughout the week and did not even drop a game en route to the title. This is Jakka’s second singles junior international title of the season, having tasted glory at the Belgian Junior tournament in September.
Kartikey Gulshan Kumar too did not concede a game until the final. This is his first title of the season. He had earlier made it to the pre-quarter-finals of the World Junior Championships in October.
Shlok and Arjun reach semi-finals in Italy
Meanwhile, there is good news for Indian badminton fans from the Italian International 2017 -- an International Challenge tournament currently going on in Milan, Italy.
The third seeded men’s doubles team of Arjun MR and Shlok Ramchandran reached the semi-finals with an effortless 21-15, 21-7 victory over the Swedish duo of Richard Eidestedt and Carl Harrbacka. They now take on the fifth seeds Jelle Maas and Robin Tabeling for a place in the final.
