MARGAO
Goa’ Sandhya Melasheemi and her partner Varun Sharma from Chandigarh, who are the top seeds in the tournament, have moved into the pre-quarterfinals of Mixed Doubles 35+ category at the All India Masters Ranking Badminton Tournament.
Several Goan shuttlers made progress on Day 6 of the eight-day tournament played at Manohar Parrikar Indoor stadium, Navelim. In the Mixed Doubles event, Sandhya/Varun, the reigning national champions in 35+, beat Shibu G/ Deepana SN 21-8, 21-8. Earlier, Goa’s men’s doubles pair of Amit Kakkar/Vishal Vernekar led the way in the morning session with a thrilling 21-10, 15-21, 21-12 win over Surya Rao TVR/Charanjeet Singh Thakur to advance into the round of 16 in Men’s Doubles 40+. Joining them were the Kanji brothers, Sandip and Kamlesh, who are seeded one in the event, who too advanced into the pre-quarterfinals in the category with ease, cruising past Sanjay Gandhi/ Prakash Sharma 21-10, 21-9.
Darwin Barreto/Supriya Pai Kuchelkar continued their fine form by storming into the quarterfinals in Mixed Doubles 45+ by registering a hard-fought 21-17, 16-21, 21-11 win over Murukan EV/Arati Patwardhan.
Also marching ahead were Wilson D'Souza /Vaman Fallary who progressed into the round of 16 in Men’s Doubles 50+ event with a facile 21-5, 21-6 win over Kallol Gupta/Jyotirmoy Roychowdhury.
Meanwhile, Goa’s top women’s doubles pair of Marina Albuquerque/Avita Bandodkar went down fighting to Basanti Bhat Rashmi Thakral, narrowly losing by a 21-19, 18-21, 21-16 scoreline in Women’s Doubles 50+. In Mixed Doubles 40+, Kamlesh Kanji (Goa) along with his partner Shikha Lamb have progressed to the next round with an emphatic 21-13, 21-15 win over Mahesh Chhabria/Sujaya Shetty. In Men’s Singles 45+, Goa’s Sandip Kanji, Ashok Gautam, Dr Sunil Kavlekar and Arnold Rodrigues have all moved into Round 3.
The eight-day tournament organised by Goa Badminton Association under the aegis of Badminton Association of India is a selection tournament for the prestigious BWF World Senior Championships in Spain. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be held on September 25, followed by the finals on September 26.
