Experienced competitors Ritika Thaker and Simran Singhi easily defeated Aditi Kale and Manali Parulekar of Pune 21-11, 21-15 to secure their place in the championship round.
Popular players Ritika and Simran will now compete today for the gold medal against Anagha Karandikar and Riya Arolkar. In the other women’s doubles semifinal, Anagha Karandikar and Riya Arolkar defeated Ishita Korgaonkar and Mansee Karekar 21-13, 21-18.
In a mixed doubles summit match, Pratik Ranade and Mahek Nayak will compete against Gaurav Rege and Ananya Durugkar.
In the mixed doubles semifinals, Gaurav Rege and Ananya Durugkar defeated Nihar Kelkar and Shivani Herlekar 21-15, 21-19 because of their strong teamwork.
The top seeds Pratik Ranade and Mahek Nayak will now square off against the Nagpur team in the championship match on Friday.
In the second semifinal, Pune’s Ajeet Kumbhar and Riya Kunjir were defeated by Pratik Ranade and Mahek Nayak 21-12, 21-15.
Arya Bhivpatki ended Sankalp Gurala’s impressive run.
The only Nagpurian to advance to the men’s singles semifinals was Sankalp Gurala. Arya Bhivpatki, who was ranked higher, ended Sankalp’s impressive streak. In a fiercely contested semifinal, Pune’s Arya defeated Sankalp Gurala 21-9, 12-21, 21-15.
For the gold medal, Arya will compete against Varun Kapur, a fellow citizen of Pune. In the men’s singles semifinal match, former junior world No. 1 Varun Kapur defeated Thane’s Yash Suryawanshi 21-11, 21-17.
RESULTS (Semi-finals)
Women’s singles
Smit Toshniwal bt Mrunmayee Deshpande 21-16, 15-21, 22-20
Hetal Vishwakarma bt Rucha Sawant 24-22, 21-18
Men’s singles
Varun Kapur bt Yash Suryawanshi 21-11, 21-17
Arya Bhivpatki bt Sankalp Gurala 21-9, 12-21, 21-15
Mixed doubles
Gaurav Rege-Ananya Durugkar bt Nihar Kelkar-Shivani Herlekar 21-15, 21-19
Pratik Ranade-Mahek Nayak bt Ajeet Kumbhar-Riya Kunjir 21-12, 21-15
Women’s doubles
Ritika Thaker-Simran Singhi bt Aditi Kale-Manali Parulekar 21-11, 21-15
Anagha Karandikar-Riya Arolkar bt Ishita Korgaonkar-Mansee Karekar 21-13, 21-18
Men’s doubles
Viplav Kuvale-Viraj Kuvale bt Ajinkya Patharkar-Akshan Shetty 21-15, 21-15
Deep Rambhiya-Kabir Kanzarkar bt Harshal Jadhav-Yash Shah 21-13, 21-14.
Final line-up (Starting at 9 am on Friday)
Mixed doubles
Gaurav Rege-Ananya Durugkar vs Pratik Ranade-Mahek Nayak
Women’s singles
Smit Toshniwal vs Hetal Vishwakarma
Women’s doubles
Ritika Thaker-Simran Singhi vs Anagha Karandikar-Riya Arolkar
Men’s singles
Varun Kapur vs Arya Bhivpatki
Men’s doubles
Viplav Kuvale-Viraj Kuvale vs Deep Rambhiya-Kabir Kanzarkar.
