85th Senior National Badminton Championships: Tanvi Sharma, Chirag Sen enter final

The penultimate day of the 85th Senior National Badminton Championships, at the TRP indoor stadium in Guwahati, saw a thrilling set of semifinals on Saturday, December 23.

Tanvi Sharma made headlines once again by beating eighth seed Isharani Baruah in an exciting three-game match. Another talking point of the day was the men’s singles semifinal between Bharat Raghav and Tharun M.

Tharun edged Raghav in three games to make it to his second consecutive final in a national tournament this year (the first one being the final of the National Games in Goa).

A closer look at some of the results and upcoming matches

Both the women's singles matches saw young and upcoming shutters defeat seeded players. The 16-year-old Anmol Kharb, the reigning National U-17 girls’ champion, defeated second-seed Ashmita Chaliha, 21-17, 21-19, in a match that lasted 41 minutes.

Meanwhile, 15-year-old Tanvi Sharma, who got the better of top seed Aakarshi Kashyap in the quarterfinal, continued to display exceptional maturity. She beat eighth-seed Isharani Baruah 21-15, 20-22, 21-14.

Tanvi will face Anmol, guaranteeing that a teenager will win the women’s singles national title for the second year in a row.

In the men’s singles semifinal, Tharun M. faced a significant test from youngster Bharat Raghav, who had defeated top-seed Lakshya Sen. Despite a tough fight from Raghav, Tharun secured a hard-fought 21-11, 16-21, 21-19 victory, setting up a final clash against Chirag Sen of Indian Railways.

Chirag's outstanding performance in the semifinal saw a 21-18, 21-18 victory over second-seed Kiran George of RBI.

The mixed doubles final will witness the Odisha Masters 2023 winners, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto, take on Nitin Kumar and Navdha Manglam. Kapila and Crasto comfortably defeated Deep Rambhiya and Akshaya Warang in the semifinal with a score of 21-11, 21-13.

In women's doubles, the Maharashtrian pair of Ritika Thaker and Simran Singhi secured a spot in the final by defeating P. Amrutha and Pranjal Prabhu Chimulkar 21-11, 21-11.

They will face the third-seeded pair of Priya Devi Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra, who got the better of Maharashtra’s Mrunmayee Deshpande and Prerana Alvekar, 21-13, 21-11.

85th Senior National Badminton Championships 2023 semifinals results:

Men's Singles (MS) semifinal:

Tharun M. vs. Bharat Raghav

Result: 21-11, 16-21, 21-19

Chirag Sen vs. Kiran George

Result: 21-18, 21-18

Women’s Singles (WS) semifinal:

Anmol Kharab vs. Ashmita Chaliha

Result: 21-17, 21-19

Tanvi Sharma vs. Isharani Baruah

Result: 21-15, 20-22, 21-14

Men’s Doubles (MD) semifinal:

Krishna Prasad G./Vishnuvardhan Goud P. vs. Hariharan Amsakarunan/Ruban Kumar R.

Result: 21-16, 21-12

K. Prathvi Roy/Suraj Goala vs. P. Naveen/V. Lokesh

Result: 21-12, 21-16

Women’s Doubles (WD) semifinal:

Simran Singhi/Ritika Thaker vs. P. Amrutha/Pranjal Prabhu Chimulkar

Result: 21-11, 21-11

Priya Devi Konjengbam/Shruti Mishra vs. Mrunmayee Deshpande/Prerana Alvekar

Result: 21-13, 21-11

Mixed Doubles (XD) semifinal:

Dhruv Kapila/Tanisha Crasto vs. Deep Rambhiya/Akshaya Warang

Result: 21-11, 21-13

Nitin Kumar/Navdha Manglam vs. H.V. Nithin/Maneesha K.

Result: 10-21, 21-18, 21-19