Pune (Maharashtra) [India], August 31 : It was a golden day for India at the Late Sushant Chipalkatti Yonex Sunrise India Junior International Grand Prix, held at the P. E. Society's Modern PDMBA Sports Complex, as the young Indian shuttlers Vansh Dev-Shravani Walekar and Aanya Bisht-Angel Punera secured two titles in doubles events.
Kazuma Kawano of Japan claimed a memorable double crown, winning the U-19 men's singles and doubles. The tournament was organised by the Poona District Metropolitan Badminton Association (PDMBA) under the auspices of BWF, BA, BAI, and MBA, as per a release from BAI.
In an all-Indian mixed doubles final, the unseeded duo Vansh Dev & Shravani Walekar produced a commanding display to defeat second seeds C Lalramsanga & Taarini Suri in straight games 21-12, 21-13. The pair sealed the gold in just 28 minutes, marking a memorable triumph.
In U-19 women's doubles, another unseeded Indian pair, Aanya Bisht & Angel Punera, fought back in style to overcome Japan's fifth seeds Aoi Banno & Yuzu Ueno. After conceding the opening game 21-23, the Indian duo bounced back with a dominant 21-12 win before holding their nerve in a tense decider to secure the gold 21-17 in a thrilling 70-minute battle.
A total prize money of $ 15,000 (Rs. 13,50,000) was awarded at the event. The prizes were given away at the hands of Sonali Deshpande, Chairperson of Persistent Foundation, Omar Rashid, Chairman, TOC Badminton Asia, Manoj Patil, Commissioner of Police, Rajesh Bansode, Commissioner of Police(Appar), Meena Chipalkatti, mother of Sushant Chipalkatti, Balkishan Chaudhari of Yonex Sunrise, Aniruddha Deshpande, President of PDMBA, Shashank Halbe, Senior VP of PDMBA, Sushil Jadhav, Head of Lokmanya Sahakari Patpedhi, Sarang Lagu, Director of Lagu Bandhu. CA Ranjit Natu, General Secretary of PDMBA, Vivek Saraf, Rajiv Bag, Organising Secretary, and Sudhanshu Medsikar were present on the occasion.
In the all-Japanese final, ninth-seeded Kazuma Kawano upset second-seeded Hyuga Takano 23-21, 18-21, 25-23 in a 1-hour, 9-minute match. Meanwhile, Yuzuno Watanabe managed to edge out tenth-seeded Yurika Nagafuchi 16-21, 21-13, 21-17 to win the U-19 Women's singles title.
In the U-19 Men's Doubles, Kazuma Kawano teamed up with Shuji Sawada to get past another Japanese pair of Shunsei Nemoto and Nagi Yoshitsugu, 21-15, 21-18.
With the two Indian victories, India shone brightest in the doubles category with its emerging teenage talents, concluding the tournament with two gold medals, one silver, and four bronze medals.