Ateendra Gaonkar beat Delhi's Vardaan Verma 16-14, 16-14.
PANAJI
Goa's Ateendra Gaonkar made a winning start at the Yonex-Sunrise G H Raisoni Memorial All India Junior Ranking Badminton Tournament 2026, defeating Delhi's Vardaan Verma 16-14, 16-14 in the boys' singles Under-19 event at the Manohar Parrikar Indoor Stadium, Navelim, on Friday.
However, Soham Naik went down fighting in three games against Madhya Pradesh's Medhansh Sharma, while Sudhanva Udupa lost 11-15, 15-11, 15-11 to Odisha's Bhargav Daram Jeevitesh.
Owais Tahasildar and Shaurya Naik also suffered defeats against Maharashtra's Yash Dhembare and Karnataka's Shreyas Chandrashekar, respectively. Aaryan Karpe and Viraditya Pai Kane battled hard against their opponents, while Palak Ramnathkar put up a determined effort in the girls' singles Under-19 event before losing to Delhi's Sakshi Rana.
The qualification rounds began on Friday, bringing together junior shuttlers from across the country for the eight-day national championship, which runs from October 23 to 30.
Goa had some positives, with Shaheen C K, Vedh Lotlikar, Sparsh Kolwalkar and Aswin Mannambalath advancing through walkovers. However, Arnav Ramnathkar, Raj Dhume, Pratik Naik Borkar, Neil Punjani Bakshi and Ritika Chelluri exited their respective events.
Powered by the G H Raisoni Sports and Cultural Foundation, Nagpur, the tournament features Under-19 competitions across five events and carries a total prize purse of Rs 8 lakh.
