MARGAO
The official badminton tournament circuit finally got going in India with the All India Masters Badminton Ranking Tournament commencing in Goa, at the Manohar Parrikar Indoor stadium in Navelim.
The eight-day event, which concludes on September 26, is being hosted by Goa Badminton Association under the auspices of Badminton Association of India, for Masters players of ages 35+ and up to age category 75+ and above. To limit the number of players at the venue and keeping in view Covid norms and regulations, the tournament has been divided into two parts: over the first four days, matches for those in the 55-plus, 60-plus, 65-plus, 70-plus and 75-plus age groups will be played. The second phase will be held from September 23 for those in the 35-plus, 40-plus, 45-plus and 50-plus age brackets.
On the opening day, Goa’s Felipe Barbosa, a bronze medal winner at the Veterans 2018 Nationals, registered an exciting 21-12, 17-21, 21-7 win over Maharashtra’s Milind Deshmukh to move into the round of 16 in Men's Singles 55+. Goa’s top Men’s 60+ doubles pair of Cancio Mascarenhas and Peter Tellis also sailed into the round of 16 with a comfortable 21-5, 21-13 win over Uttarakhand’s pair of Mohan Martolia / Nawin Chandra.
In Men’s Singles 65+, Goa’s Tanaji Sawant was in scintillating form as he eased past Haryana’s Ravindra Nath Kalra 21-6, 21-5 to seal his place in the round of 16. In Men’s Doubles 65+, Goa’s top Doubles pair of Tanaji Sawant / Pradeep Dhond registered an upset 23-21, 21-18 over second seeds Ashok Sharma / Anil Kumar Sondhi to march into the pre-quarterfinals.
The tournament is a selection tournament to select the India team that will participate in the BWF World Seniors championships to be held in Spain from November-December. There are around 1000+ players who have registered to participate in the eight-day tournament, which is supported by the Sports Authority of Goa.
