MUMBAI, September 8: A great fightback from Thane junior boys went in vain as Mumbai Suburban won the team title in the Junior Inter-district badminton tournament conducted by Mulund Gymkhana at the Kalidas Sports Complex today.Amogh Kulkarni had wrapped up the first singles for Suburban winning 15-13, 15-2 against Himanshu Thakkar of Thane. Thakkar was down 9-14 in the first game but fought back to 13-14 before losing.
After Kulkarni and Rohan Radhakrishnan won the first game of the doubles, they lost the second tamely at 8-15. But they held a 7-2 lead in the decider.
Bhushan Paithankar and Suraj Thakkar won 11 straight points to lead 13-7. With Kulkarni's leg hampering his movement, the two bravely clawed back to 13-13. Two unforced errors from Thakur gave the title to the Suburban team.
Mumbai Suburban also won the sub-junior girls' title with Gauri Narayan playing a big role in it. She won the singles and the doubles with comfort while Trupti Murgunde played a significant part in Pune's win inthe juniors.
Murgunde beat Neha Wad in the singles and teamed up with Kranti Sane to win the doubles.
RESULTS
Team championships (all finals)
Junior boys: Mumbai Suburban bt Thane 2-0 (Amogh Kulkarni bt Himanshu Thakkar 15-13, 15-2; Amogh Kulkarni/ R Radhakrishnan bt Bhushan Paithankar/ Suraj Thakkar 15-11, 8-15, 15-13.
Sub-junior: Nagpur bt Thane 2-0 (Amar Mohite bt Akshay Thakkar 15-5, 15-3; Amar Mohite/Nishad Dravid bt Sumedh Deorukhkar/Akshay Thakkar 15-12, 15-5).
Junior girls': Pune bt Mumbai Suburban 2-0 (Trupti Murgunde bt Neha Wad 11-6, 11-1; Trupti Murgunde/Kranti Sane bt Gauri Narayan/Anuj Wadke 15-7, 15-8).
Sub-junior: Mumbai Suburban bt Pune 2-0 (Gauri Narayan bt Poonam Walimbe 11-1, 11-4; Gauri/ Neha Wad bt Mugdha Bhagwat/ Gauri Bhange 15-5, 15-4).
SEMI-FINALS
Junior boys: Mumbai Suburban bt Pune 2-1 (R Rohan lost to Abhijeet Ayrekar 3-15 7-15; Rohan & Amogh Kulkarni bt Aditya Umrani & Varun Khanwalkar 15-3 11-15 15-4; Kulkarni btSameer Bhagwat 15-4 15-7); Thane bt Greater Mumbai 2-0 (Himanshu Thakkar bt Deepak Jetley 4-15 15-2 15-4; Bhushan Paithankar & Suraj Thakur bt Harshad Tawde & Jetley 15-8 15-10)
Sub-junior boys: Nagpur bt Greater Mumbai 2-0 (Nishad Dravid bt Rakesh yadav 15-5 15-2; Amar Mohite & Nishad bt Swapnil Vyavaharkar & Yadav 15-3 15-1); Thane bt Pune 2-0 (Sumedh Deorukhkar bt Ajit Pathak 4-15 15-10 15-10; Deorukhkar & Akshay Thakkar bt Amol Kanade & Yatin Nageshkar 15-4 15-9)
Junior girls: Pune bt Nasik 2-0 (Trupti Murgunde bt Rucha Phalgune 11-0 11-4; Trupti & Kranti Sane bt Rucha & Mamata Lodha 15-1 15-0); Mumbai Suburban bt Greater Mumbai 2-1 (Neha Wad lost to Sampada Pai 7-11 11-9 3-11; Anuj Wadke & Gauri Narayan bt Pooja Kotwani & Neha Gangoli 15-2 15-2; Gauri bt Neha 11-7 11-6)
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