Tanvi Sharma, Pranauv Ram, Rounak Chouhan to headline Smt Krishna Khaitan Memorial badminton

Former U-17 national champion and member of this year’s Asian Championships winning Indian women’s team, Tanvi Sharma will be among the top contenders in the girls’ U-19 category in the Yonex Sunrise 31st Smt Krishna Khaitan Memorial All India Junior Ranking Prize Money Tournament starting September 12 -19.

The tournament, which is being organised by Express Shuttle Club Trust under the aegis of Haryana Badminton Association, is one of the junior events on the Badminton Association of India domestic calendar and will be played at Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex, Sector 3.

“We have got 1014 entries for the tournament. It happens to be an important tournament on the BAI calendar and like always, will offer ranking points to the U-19 players. Last year’s finalist Tanvi Sharma will be leading the challenge in the girls’ U-19 category and players like top seed Rujula Ramu of Karnataka and Medhavi Nagar of Haryana too will be the top draws of the tournament,” said Sanjiv Sachdeva, tournament director who has been the chief coach of the Indian junior team in the past and is a member of BAI’s selection committee.

While last year, more than 1150 entries were received for the tournament, there were more than 1350 entries for the tournament in 2022. Last month’s All India Junior Ranking Tournament, Orissa winner Rounak Chouhan of Chattisgarh will be top seed in the boys’ U19 singles category while defending champion Pranauv Ram of Telangana has been seeded second in the category.

While some of the top U-19 players like Asian U15 champion Tanvi Patri and Asian U-17 bronze medallist Gnana Dattu are part of the national camp for the world junior badminton championship this week, some of the top-ten players will be in action here.

In the boys’ doubles U-19 category, the pair of Vinayakram GP and Swastik Matharasan of Telangana has been drawn as top seeds. The pair of Pragati Parida and Vishaka Toppo of Orissa has been drawn as top seeds in the girls’ U19 doubles category while the pair of Mithliesh P Krishnan of Pondicherry and Manya Ralhan of Punjab National Bank has been drawn as top seeds in the mixed doubles U19 category.

The tournament has been sanctioned with a total prize money of Rs four lakh by BAI president Hemanta Biswa Sarma and in the quarter-finals onwards, players will be awarded with prize money. “Last year, we saw talents like Anmol Kharab and Tanvi Sharma emerging from the tournament. This year too, we expect some new talents to emerge. The main draw for boys as well as girls singles will be of 32 each while the rest of the categories will see a main draw of 16 each. There have been 467 entries for boys’ singles U19 category in the qualification draw while 174 entries have come for the girls singles U19 qualification draw,” said Sachdeva.

In the past, London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal had won the girls’ singles title in 2005 while double Olympics medallist PV Sindhu won the title in 2010. National coach Pullela Gopichand’s wife PVV Laxmi had become the first girls’ singles winner in the tournament in 1991. Last year, Haryana youngster Anmol Kharb had won the girls’ U-19 title beating Tanvi Sharma of Punjab in the final.

Pranauv Ram of Telangana had won the boys’ U-19 title after his opponent Lalthazuala of Mizoram withdrew midway into the match.

“Players born on or after January 1, 2006, are eligible to take part in the tournament and BAI obersevers will be strictly adhering to the age guidelines. Lokesh Kumar Soni will be the chief referee along with Parijat Natu as deputy referee and Pankaj Saini as match controller. The tournament will be played on the ten wooden courts at Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex in Panchkula and the qualification round matches will happen from September 12 to September 15 before the main draw happens,” added Sachdeva.

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