Clinical Doves march into finals of MBL

Daring Doves entered the finals of the Maharashtra Badminton League (MBL) after a comprehensive 3-1 semi-final victory over Graceful Gulls at the PDMBA Sports Complex on Saturday.

Gulls came into the contest as table-toppers in the league phase, having won five of their six ties, being defeated once against the Doves.

The first match of the tie provided an indication of what was to come, as the youthful Gulls star Harsheel Dani, who had won five out of six league matches, lost a closely fought first game 19-21 to Eshan Naqvi.

Harsheel bounced back to take the second game 21-18, but Naqvi kept his cool in the decider to win it 21-14.

Gulls levelled to 1-1 in the women's singles, thanks to an injury to Saili Rane that forced the Doves player to pull out while trailing 1-3 in the first game.

But that was to be their final victory of the day, as Doves stamped their authority over the remaining rubbers.

In the men's doubles, Prashant Bahatre and Jayendra Dhole defeated Manan Goenka and Nachiket Dhaygude 21-16, 21-9, while Subhankar Dey prevailed over Shlok Ramchandran in the second men's singles, winning 24-22, 21-12.

On Sunday, during the MBL prize distribution ceremony, the Haveli Taluka Badminton Association will honour veteran coach Vasant Gore with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

The award will include a Certificate of Appreciation and a cash award of Rs10,000.

Gore has trained a number of acclaimed badminton players including four-time National champion Manjusha Pawangadkar and National champions Aditi Mutatkar and Trupti Murgunde apart from players from the national level such as Hemant Hardikar and Nishad Dravid.

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