Mrunmayi Saoji causes upset in junior badminton

Maharashtra's Mrunmayi Saoji underlined her credentials as a fast improving player when she caused an upset in the third round of the U-17 and U-19 girls singles categories on the second day of the 38th Junior National Badminton Championship here Monday.

Qualifier Mrunmayi, who trains in Nagpur under Robin Simon, had been in good form in the state championship and underlined her growing stature as a talented shuttler with a 21-15, 21-13 victory over Anoushka in the third round of the U-17 category and later came back to upset 10th seed Anura Prabhudesai of Goa 8-21, 21-16, 21-19.

In the U-17 pre-quarterfinals, Mrunmayi will face 13th seed V. Harika of Andhra Pradesh, while top seed Rituparna Das awaits her in the U-19 event.

Elsewhere, defending champion and top seed Harsheel Dani of Air India was stretched to the decider by M. Kanishq of Andhra Pradesh. The last time the two faced each other in the Sushant Chippalkati Memorial junior international meet, Kanishq had got the better of his senior opponent but the top seed kept his cool Monday despite the qualifier launching a late charge.

Dani won 21-13, 18-21, 21-14 to set up a pre-quarterfinal clash against 13th seed Harshit Aggarwal of Karnataka.

Important Results (third round):

BS U17

Daniel Farid S. (1), KTK, beat Mithun M., KTK, 21-13 21-12; Aarush Setia (15), DLI, beat Piyush Meena, RAJ, 17-21 21-16 21-14; Siril Varma A. S. S. (5), AP, beat Siddharth Pratap Singh, CG, 15-21 21-10 21-15; Chandra Kumar D., AP, beat Bodhit Joshi (11), UTR, 21-15 15-21 21-10; Talar Laa (4), ANP, beat Sribalaji S., PY, 23-21 21-14; Kanishq M. (6), AP, beat Dharma Sekaran K., TN, 21-12 21-11; Chirag Shetty (7), MAH, beat Satish Naidu J., AP, 21-16 21-14: Lakshya Sen (16), UTR, beat Kartikey Gulshan Kumar, DLI, 21-17 21-15: Chirag Sen (3), AI, beat Kartik Jindal, HAR, 21-19 21-12: Rahul Yadav C. (2), AP, beat Harsh Jagdhane, MAH, 21-8 21-16 .

GS U17

Karishma Wadkar (1), MAH, beat Priyanka Kumawat, RAJ, 21-16 21-6: Vrushali G. (10), AP, beat Nikita Singh, JAR, 21-6 21-5; Shriyanshi Pardeshi (3), AI, beat Sri Krishna Priya K., AP, 21-12 21-15: Ashmita Chaliha (14), ASM, beat Diksha Choudhary, CG, 21-11 21-11; Shikha Gautam (8), KTK, beat Santoshi Hasini R., AP, 20-22 21-19 21-14; Riya Mookerjee, UP, beat Uttejitha Rao Ch. (11), AP, 21-16 22-20; Mahima Aggarwal (9), KTK, beat Bhavya Rishi, DLI, 21-17 21-17; Kuhoo Garg (5), UTR, beat Anshu Sharma, MP, 21-10 21-19; Harika V. (13), AI, beat Shruthi S., TN, 21-16 21-19; Mrunmayi Saoji, MAH, beat Anoushka Parikh (4), GUJ, 21-15 21-13; Anura Prabhudesai (12), GOA, beat Ningshi Block Hazarika, ASM, 21-9 21-16; Kanika Kanwal (6), DLI, beat Muskan Sohi, CHG, 21-15 20-22 21-11; Ruby Singh (16), CG, beat Kalpita Sawant, MAH, 21-17 21-19; Ruthvika Shivani G. (2), AP, beat Jasmine Sahu, ORI, 21-1 21-5 .

BS U19

Harsheel Dani (1), AI, beat Kanishq M., AP, 21-13 18-21 21-14; Harshit Aggarwal (13), KTK, beat Yogesh Rajgopalan, TN, 21-3 21-7; Kaushal Dharmamer (5), MAH, beat Aarush Setia, DLI, 21-9 21-13; Arun George (3), KER, beat Kashish, PNB, 21-12 21-13; Ansal Yadav (8), UP, beat Upendra C. , AP, 21-17 21-14 .

GS U19

Rituparna Das (1), AP, beat Lalita Dahiya, HAR, 21-9 21-10; Mrunmayi Saoji, MAH, beat Anura Prabhudesai (10), GOA, 8-21 21-16 21-19; Vaishnavi Bhale, MAH, beat Shruthi S., TN, 21-16 21-13; Karishma Wadkar (11), MAH, beat Mahima Aggarwal, KTK, 21-16 21-6; Rasika Raje (4), MAH, beat Ashmita Chaliha, ASM, 14-21 21-8 25-23; Malvika J. K. (13), KER, beat Anoushka Parikh, GUJ, 21-18 12-21 21-12; Shriyanshi Pardeshi (5), AI, beat Vrushali G., AP, 21-15 21-17; Sanchali Dasgupta (12), UP, beat Yania Taring, ANP, 21-11 5-0 Ret..; Kanika Kanwal, DLI, beat Vaishnavi Iyer, MAH, 21-19 21-16; Kuhoo Garg (7), UTR, beat Yajum Laa, ANP, 22-20 21-16; Shikha Gautam (16), KTK, beat Santoshi Hasini R., AP, 21-14 15-21 21-16; Ruthvika Shivani G. (3), AP, beat Harshita Chaliha, ASM, 21-6 21-8; Sri Krishna Priya K. (14), AP, beat Shenan Christian, GUJ, 21-8 21-9; Sara Naqvi (8), UP, beat Mira Mahadevan, KTK, 21-15 21-10; Revati Devasthale (9), MAH, beat Agna Anto, KER, 21-7 21-12; Reshma Karthik (2), AI, beat Aditi Anand, TN, 21-14 21-11 .