Aakarshi Kashyap and Kiran George win Junior National Badminton Championships

Rising Indian badminton stars Aakarshi Kashyap and Kiran George lived up to their top billing as they emerged the champions in girls’ singles under-19 and boys’ singles under-19 categories respectively at the Yonex-Sunrise 43rd Junior National Badminton Championships 2018 at Lucknow over the weekend.

Kashyap required 35 minutes to make short work of the third-seeded Purva Barve 21-17, 21-8. Kiran George had to work harder as he needed three games to get the better of the second-seeded Alap Mishra 21-11, 13-21, 21-9 in 41 minutes.

Aakarshi was in scintillating form at this tournament and won all her six matches without dropping a game, having received a first-round bye.

The youngster has been slowly making her mark even in the senior circuit and made it to the final of the Bulgarian International this year, besides a quarter-final finish at the Tata Open India International Challenge. In juniors, she triumphed at the India Junior International 2018 in August.

Kiran George, who won a couple of rounds at the World Junior Championships and three rounds at the Asia Junior Championships, too reached the quarter-finals at the India International Challenge earlier this month.

He did not concede any game in his first five matches at the Junior Nationals but was severely tested in the summit clash.

The top seeds prevailed even in the boys’ doubles under-19 section where Vishnuvardhan Goud P. and Sri Krishna Sai Kumar Podile beat second seeds Manjit Singh Khwairakpam and Dingku Sing Konthoujam 21-11, 21-19.

There was a mini-upset in the girls’ doubles under-19 category as the fifth seeds Aditi Bhatt and Tanisha Crasto secured an effortless 21-13, 21-10 victory over the third seeds Shruti Mishra and Samridhi Singh.

The mixed doubles category witnessed no such upset. Third seeds Sai Pratheek Krishna Prasad and Ashwini Bhat K had no problem in dispatching the fifth seeds Akshan Shetty and Rashi Lambe 21-13, 21-15.