Sushant Niddodi of MCF Gymkhana wins double crown at GD Birla Memorial Inter-Club Badminton tournament

Sushant Niddodi of Mandpeshwar Gymkhana grabbed a grand double at the 28th GD Birla Memorial Masters Inter-Club Badminton tournament in Mumbai on Tuesday, May 3.

The five-day long tournament was hosted by Badminton 45 and Bombay Gymkhana and managed by Badminton Gurukul.

Sushant Niddodi won the men’s 85 plus combination doubles and 80 plus mixed combination doubles on the fifth and final day. Niddodi partnered with Rajesh D’Souza of Willington Catholic Gymkhana to defeat PM Balakrishna and Siddharth Gupta of Chembur Gymkhana 21-15, 22-20 in the men’s 85 plus combination doubles final.

Niddodi then joined Sejal Sheth of NSCI to trounce Bombay Gym’s Ayaz Bilawala and Naveed Divecha 21-18, 21-14 for the 80 plus mixed combination doubles title.

Bombay Gymkhana, winners of the Elite Team Championship. (Pic credit: Badminton Gurukul)

Sushant Niddodi was also adjudged 'Player of the Tournament’

Sushant Niddodi performed brilliantly throughout the tournament and was rightly adjudged as ’Player of the Tournament’. Niddodi stamped his authority in style with an outstanding all-round showing.

Top seed Shailesh Daga of Bombay Gym lived up to his billing, defeating Sandeep Mohan of Andheri SC 21-12, 21-16 to lift the men’s singles 45 plus title.

However, a double crown eluded him, as he and partner Ayaz Bilawala went down to George Koshy and Rajesh Bhanushali of Goregaon SC 17-21, 21-15, 13-21 in the men’s doubles final.

Also maintaining his fine form was NSCI’s Vikrant Kushwaha, who recovered from the loss of the game to defeat CCI’s Akshay Kadam 14-21, 21-16, 21-15 in the Professional men’s singles final.

Hosts Bombay Gymkhana won the Elite Team Championship title, defeating Andheri Sports Club 2-1, while the Plate Team Championship title went to NSCI, who got the better of Country Club 2-0.

NSCI, winners of the Plate Team Championship. (Pic credit: Badminton Gurukul)

Results

Men’s singles 45 plus (final)

Shailesh Daga bt Sandeep Mohan 21-12, 21-16.

Men’s doubles 45 plus (final)

George Koshy/Rajesh Bhanushali bt Ayaz Bilawala/Shailesh Daga 21-17, 15-21, 21-13.

Men’s combination doubles 85 plus (final)

Rajesh D’souza/Sushant Niddodi bt PM Balakrishna/Siddharth Gupta 21-15, 22-20.

Men’s combination doubles 110 plus (final)

Ashok Sharma/Mahesh Chhabria bt Bibhash Chatarjee/Rajesh D’souza 22-20, 21-16.

Mixed combination doubles 80 plus (final)

Sushant Niddodi/Sejal Sheth bt Ayaz Bilawala/Naheed Divecha 21-18, 21-14.

Women’s combination doubles 75 plus (final)

Kiran Shate/Priya Ambekar bt Naheed Divech/Sarita Jetwani 21-14, 16-21, 21-12.

GD Birla Team Elite (final)

Bombay Gymkhana A bt Andheri Sports Complex 2-1

GD Birla Team Plate (final)

NSCI bt Country Club 2-0.

Philanthropist Rajshree Birla and Aga Hussain, President Bombay Gym, handing over the trophy to players from Andheri SC, runners-up in the Elite Team Championship. (Pic credit: Badminton Gurukul)

Professional men’s singles (final)

Vikrant Kushwaha bt Akshay Kadam 14-21, 21-16, 21-15.

Professional men’s doubles (final)

Dinesh Golbare/Manoj Nachnekar bt Kalpesh Padekar/Sanjay Golbare 20-22, 21-12, 21-19.

Men’s singles 45 plus (semi-finals)

Sandeep Mohan bt Justin Joseph 21-11, 21-8

Shailesh Daga bt Narendra Sawardekar 21-15, 21-13.

Men’s doubles 45 plus (semi-finals)

Ayaz Bilawal/Shailesh Daga bt Bibhas Chaterjee/Yogesh Sanghvi 21-18, 21-9

George Koshy/Rajesh Bhanushali bt Rajat Moitra/Sandeep Mohan 21-19, 10-21, 22-20.

Men’s doubles 45 plus (quarter-finals)

Ayaz Bilawala/Shailesh Daga bt Ketan Patel/Rajendra Naik 15-13, 15-7

Bibhas Chaterjee/Yogesh Sanghvi bt Ashish Kapila/Fabian 15-11, 13-15, 15-6

George Koshy/Rajesh Bhanushali bt Anand Vithalkar/Anis Badami 15-6, 15-12

Rajat Moitra/Sandeep Mohan bt Dhirendra Maurya/Mahesh Chhabria 15-10, 6-15, 15-10.

Women’s doubles 75 plus (semi-finals)

Naheed Divecha/Sarita Jetwani bt Nilakshi Bhatnagar/Rupali Gupta – 21-8, 21-6; Kiran Shete/Priya Ambekar bt Nidhi Hosangady/Paromita Phulwaria – 21-16, 21-13.

Mixed doubles 80 plus (semi-finals)

Ayaz Bilawala/Naheed Divecha scored a walkover against Hamir Desai/Shalini Kandhari

Sushant Niddodi/Sejal Sheth bt Russell Drego/Sareeta Jetwani 21-9, 21-13.

Men’s doubles 85 plus (semi-finals)

Rajesh D’souza/Sushant Niddodi bt Faisal Siddique/Rajan 21-13, 21-12

PM Balakrishna/Siddharth Gupta bt Mitesh Arora/Prashant Shah 17-21, 22-20, 21-11.

Men’s doubles 85 plus (quarter-finals)

Rajesh D’souza/Sushant Niddodi bt Kousambi Roy/Vishal Manchanda 15-9, 15-6

Faisal Siddique/Rajan bt Anis Badami/Sushant Shetty 15-11, 7-15, 15-13

Mitesh Arora/Prashant Shah bt Chandrashekhar Pitre/Vijesh Nair 13-15, 15-14, 15-13

PM Balakrishna/Siddharth Gupta bt Jinesh Mehta/Sachin Mehta 15-5, 15-10.

Men’s doubles 110 plus (semi-finals)

Bibhash Chatarjee/Rajesh D’souza bt Gautam Ashra/Shailesh Daga 17-21, 21-19, 21-17

Ashok Sharma/Mahesh Chhabria bt Amol Shah/Naval Bir Kumar 13-21, 25-23, 21-16.

GD Birla Team (quarter-finals)

MCF B bt Country Club 2-1

NSCI A bt Chembur Gymkhana 2-1

Bombay Gymkhana A bt CCI A 2-1

Andheri Sports Complex bt Goregaon Sports Complex 2-1.