Indian challenge in the prestigious All England Open may have come to an end in the semi-finals on Saturday but there was enough action for the lower ranked players on the international circuit and also at the All India level.
Here is the round up of what happened across the globe outside Arena Birmingham.
Israel Junior
Purva Barve successfully defended her girl’s singles crown in the Israel Junior (under-19) championship held in Rishon LeZion. Fourth seed Barve, a trainee at the Nikhil Kanetkar Badminton Academy, won the long drawn battle against Russia’s Anastasiia Pustinskaia 21-19, 19-21, 21-13 in a match that lasted 66 minutes.
The title is her first in 2018 and third overall. Earlier she won the Israel Junior 2017, Italian Junior International 2017 apart from a bronze at the Russian Junior White Nights 2017.
KaBal International
It was a heartbreak moment for India’s Shubhankar Dey in the men’s singles final of the KaBal International as he went down in straight games against third seed Victor Svendsen of Denamark in Karvina, Czech Republic.
The top seeded Indian fought back well after conceding early advantage in both the games but could not turn the tables on his opponent and lost 21-19, 21-19 in 38 minutes.
Double crown for Nandagopal, Panda
Back home, K Nandagopal and Rutuparna Panda bagged the double crown in the All India Ranking doubles tournament in Lucknow.
Nandagopal and Panda teamed up to beat Arundhati Pantawane and Gouse Shaikh 21-16, 21-13 to win the mixed doubles crown before they came back with their respective partners to clinch the men’s and women’s doubles titles.
Nandagopal and Alwin Francis defeated Anjan and Ranjan of Assam 21-14, 21-15 in the men’s doubles final while Panda and Pantawane got the better of junior combination of Ritika Thaker and Simran Singhi 21-16, 21-10.
