New Delhi: Himanshu Kharbanda beat Ashish Sharma (21-19, 9-21, 21-17) to win the men’s singles title at the GD Chawla Memorial Badminton Championship here on Friday.

It was a tough final where both the opponents showed their class to take the game to the final set. Himanshu won the first set 21-19 after being made to fight for every point by his opponent. Ashish wasn’t to give up easily as clinched the second set 21-9 with ease, but Himanshu came back strong in third and won the set and match 21-17.

In the girls’ under-17 category, Gauri Asija didn’t have to sweat much as her opponent Ananya Nagar retired hurt after developing a cramp in the very first set. Gauri was leading 13-8.

In the under-17 boys’ doubles final between Utkash Arora/Risabh Sahdev and Rohan Kapoor/Arush Sethia, the former pair won the title 21-14, 21-17. In the first set of the match, Utkash Arora and his partner took a great start leading their opponents 12-6 in no time. But Rohan/Arush duo showed some resistance later but lost 21-14.

In the next set, Rohan and his partner tried to regroup but could only succeed in giving a tough fight. Utkash and Risabh’s power packed performance was good enough to beat his competitor in quick passage of time (21-17).

By Rajorshi Moitra 
Indian Sports News