MAPUSA
Sandhya Melashami, former Goa State champion, bagged two Silvers, while Pednekar siblings Ashutosh and Leena Pednekar tasted podium glory, at the 43rd Indian Masters (Veteran) National Badminton Championships 2018-19, which concluded at multipurpose Stadium, Peddem, Mapusa, Goa on Sunday. In Women 35+ Singles finals, Sandhya gave a few tense moments to Parul Rawat before losing 21-23, 9-21 to lift the runner up trophy. In Women’s 35+ doubles finals, Sandhya along with her partner Aditi Rode from Maharashtra went down fighting in three tough sets to Nupura Bhide / Pooja Patil. They lost 22-20, 16-21, 11-21.
Ashutosh Pednekar, a former Goa State champion who dominated the Goa badminton scene for many years won the mixed doubles title as he along with his partner Naheed Divecha put it across Sanjay Moolur Raghav and Shalini Shetty, winning 21-18, 21-19. In Men’s 45+ doubles, Ashutosh and his partner Kiran Makode who were seeded two in this championship found the pair of former National champion Jaseel Ismail and his partner Jaison Xavier too hard to crack. They lost 13-21, 13-21 to settle for bronze. Jaseel Ismail / Jaison Xavier emerged eventual winners in this category with their opponents Rajesh Sekhar R. and Sanjay Ray retiring after trailing 1-6 in the finals.
Leena Pedenekar won championship Gold in Women’s singles category. In the finals, she eased past Pooja Mehta, winning 21-16, 21-13. In women’s doubles 40+, Leena along with her partner Madhavi Kashikar lost to top seeds Swati Chauhan / Pooja Mehta 19-21, 11-21 to bag bronze and mark a successful campaign for the brother-sister duo who have now shifted to Maharashtra.
As expected, former National and International stars who were participating in the championship dominated to bag top honours. In Men’s doubles 35+, Sanave Thomas / Joy T. Antony defeated Prashant Bahatre / Manish Rawat 21-15, 21-16. In Men’s Singles 60+, national junior chief coach Sanjay Mishra defeated Rajeev Sharma 16-21, 21-17, 21-18. In Mixed doubles 40+, Sameer Abbasi / Swati Chauhan defeated Upendra Fadnis / Nisha Springett 14-21, 21-14, 21-14. In Men’s singles 40+, Lakhwinder Singh defeated Tejenkaba 21-16, 21-12. In all, there were 40 different age category events played in formats of singles, doubles and mixed doubles, featuring more than 1800 players from all parts of India.
Special prizes were awarded to Goan shuttlers who reached thr Quarter finals and excelled, namely: Sandip Kanji, Darwin Barreto, Parag Chauhan, Vaman Fallary, Marina Albuquerque, Vamanan K., Suresh Kumar Raghavan, Judy Braganza Fernandes, Dr Satish Kudchadkar, Sadanad Talaulikar, Vineeta Adpaikar and Gurudas Kadam and Secletica Rebello.
BAI officials K.K. Sharma, O.D. Sharma, Mayur Parikh, Lalnusiama along with GBA President Narahar Thakur, Vice President Anil Painguinkar, Secretary Sandeep Heble and other members graced the closing function.
