India’s young women’s doubles pair of Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker won the Mauritius International title on Sunday after playing just two matches in the tournament.
There were only eight pairs in the women’s doubles draw of the tournament and the second-seeded Indians had received a bye in the first round, which was the quarter-final. Singhi, 16, and Thaker, 17, then defeated the local pair of Vilina Appiah and Mandira Lubah rather comfortably in the semi-finals, their first match of the tournament, by a 21-11, 21-4 scoreline.
In the final on Sunday, India’s No 1-ranked junior doubles pair got the better of the top seeds from Maldives, Aminath Nabeeha Abdul Razzaq and Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq, 21-17, 21-12.
The two Indians had also participated in the singles event in Mauritius and both lost in the quarter-finals after playing three games against the top two seeds. While Thaker lost to top seed Katerina Tomalova 15-21, 21-18, 21-16, Singhi was beaten by second seed Thuzar Thet Htar 14-21, 21-11, 21-15.
This was just the second international tournament that Singhi and Thaker had participated in this year. They had lost in the first round of the India Open to China’s Wenjing Dong and Xueying Feng 21-7, 21-8.
Singhi and Thaker had won the All India Junior Ranking Tournament in Tirupur last month, which secured them a spot in India’s squad for the Badminton Asia Junior Championships.