District Badminton Championship: Kawle pips former coach Dayal in a thriller

NAGPUR: It is always difficult to play against your coach in a competitive match. Anjesh Kawle faced this tricky situation when he clashed with his former coach Ajay Dayal on the inaugural day of the Baidyanath Nagpur District Junior and Senior Badminton Championship at the Subhedar Hall here on Monday.
Kawle rallied back superbly to edge out former district champion Dayal 9-15, 15-8, 15-14 in a pulsating men’s singles second round match.
Experienced campaigner Dayal won the first game quite easily but Kawle fought back in style to capture the next two games with an inspired performance. The third and deciding game kept the spectators on the edge of their seats with both the shuttlers giving their best shot. In the end, youth prevailed over experience as Kawle clinched the final point after the scores were level 14-14. In a good gesture, Kawle touched the feet of Dayal after the match.
Joining Kawle in the third round of men’s singles are top seed Pranav Lokhande and Shashank Pandey. Defending champion Lokhande defeated Sagar Sonule 15-10, 15-3, while Pandey prevailed over Bhaghirat Bhosle 15-8, 15-8.
In the women’s singles, Vaishnavi Apte, Pavitra Somani, Arya Anchalwar, Ankita Daultani, Natasha Tikale and Ketaki Mundiwale carved out straight games win over their respective rivals to book their berths in the pre-quarterfinals.
Seeded players moved up in other categories without any trouble. Earlier, the tournament was inaugurated by Kalpana Jadhav. NDBA president Kunda Vijaykar, secretary Mangesh Kashikar and other NDBA officials were present on the occasion.
RESULTS
Men’s singles (Round of 128): Mitesh Gandhi bt Hardik Batra 10-15, 15-8, 15-14; Anshul Bharadbhunje bt Kartikeya 15-2, 15-9; Charchit Thak bt Arjun Mudaliar 15-14, 15-13; Harish Dongre bt Shrikant Gotmare 10-15, 15-12, 15-10; Ameya Baheti bt Sagar Chaudhari 9-15, 15-14, 15-10; Kaustabh Lokhande bt Saket Wankar 15-6, 15-6; Ankit Rathi bt Rohit Mirani 15-12, 15-7.
Women’s singles (Round of 32): Vaishnavi Apte bt Nikita Pandhare 15-7, 15-7; Pavitra Somani walkover Kalpana Yeoley; Arya Anchalwar bt Sakshi Lande 15-2, 15-1; Ankita Daultani bt Richa Dawda 15-14, 15-13; Natasha Tikale bt Shubhangi Chincholar 15-2, 15-11; Ketaki Mundiwale bt Rajashree Hatwar 15-6, 15-8.
U-17 boys singles (Round of 64): 1-Sifat Arora walkover Piyush Rajpal; Aryan Bagul bt Aryan Khamankar 15-10, 15-4; Aditya Shiralkar bt Arnav Arya 15-7, 14-15, 15-7; Nishad Chore bt Sarves Thakre 15-10, 13-15, 15-14; Vaibhav Mithe bt Raghav Tayade 15-11, 15-10; Vinil Mokhade bt Rudayesh Ambulkar 15-10, 15-9; Aryan Lambat bt Pritesh Abhani 15-6, 15-4; Devesh Jena bt Ameya Mulay 15-10, 15-8; Dev Rajesh bt Waqar Badar 15-4, 15-0; Arjun Voditel bt Makrand Dhumale 15-3, 15-0; Nachiket Arya bt Chaitanya Dakhane 15-12, 15-11; Sarang Walke bt Swayam Sambhe 15-3, 15-7; 3-Jaskaran Suri bt Nilay Deshpande 15-9, 13-15, 15-11; Sumedh Chaudhary bt Ayush Bhonde 15-7, 15-12; Naimish Kasat bt Tanishq Borekar 15-9, 15-6; Kirtesh Chaudhari bt Chunharmeet Sokhi 15-7, 15-4; Sudhansh Cinthray bt Anush Phaley 15-13, 15-6.