Air India, Andhra lift junior inter-state badminton titles

Air India and Andhra Pradesh registered contrasting victories to lift the boys' and girls' team titles, respectively, in the 38th Inter State-Inter Zonal Badminton Championships here Saturday.

While Air India had to come from behind to beat Kerala 2-1 to lift the Narang Cup, Andhra Pradesh blanked Air India girls 2-0 to carve their name on the Shafi Qureshi Cup.

In the boys' final, Air India were dealt with an early blow when Aditya Joshi was upset by Arun George 21-23, 21-15, 21-11.

But Shlok Ramchandran and Sanyam Shukla restored parity with a 21-10, 21-17 win over Arun and Shyam Prasad before Harsheel Dani clinched the tie beating Shyam Prasad 21-12, 21-14.

In the girls' final, the quality of G. Ruthvika Shivani and Rituparna Das proved too much to handle for the Air India girls.

Final results:

Narang Cup (Boys): Air India bt Kerala 2-1 (Aditya Joshi lost to Arun George 21-23, 21-15, 21-11; Shlok Ramchandran/Sanyam Shukla bt Shyam Prasad/Arun George 21-10, 21-17; Harsheel Dani bt Shyam Prasad 21-12, 21-14).

Shafi Qureshi Cup (Girls): Andhra Pradesh bt Air India 2-0 (Ruthvika Shivani bt Reshma Karthik 21-9, 21-15; J. Meghana/Rituparna Das bt Reshma Karthik/V. Harika 21-7, 21-14).