Khelo: Aman,Aakarshiemerge badminton champions

Aman Farogh Sanjay in the boys Under-21 singles and Aarya Deshpande and Ananya Phadke in the Under-17 girls doubles helped hosts Maharashtra add two gold to their tally on the final day of badminton competition at the Khelo India Youth Games here Sunday.

However, Malvika Bansod had to settle for a silver as Chhattisgarh's Aakarshi Kashyap proved too strong for her, a media release said.

Aman was up against the gritty Rahul Bhardwaj of Karnataka but the dapper left-hander moved with dexterity and mixed up his shotswellto make the final his own, winning 21-17, 23-21 in just 40 minutes.

Having lost the Khelo India School Games final in Delhi, Aakarshi of Chhattisgarh was determined to come up with a better result here.

Malvika had not dropped a single game on her way to the final and expectations were high being the crowd favourite, but Aakarshi, who trains at the Prakash Padukone Academy in Bengaluru, won 21-11, 21-16 to avenge her Delhi defeat.

In the girls U-17 doubles, Ananya Phadke and Aarya Deshpande clinched the gold in a one-sided final.

The Maharashtra duo, who did not drop a single game in the tournament, outclassed Rajasthan's Sakshi Asrani and Ankushka Mehta 21-16, 21-13 in just 29 minutes.

In the girls U-17 final, 13-year-old Gopichand Academy trainee Mir Tasnim Ali of Gujarat overpowered Mansi Singh of Uttar Pradesh 23-21, 21-16.

In other action, Gandham Pranav Rao of Telangana came from behind to beat Haryana's Ravi in a thriller 21-15, 18-21, 11-21 to give Telangana their only badminton gold (boys U-17) of the Games.

Rajasthan's Nikunj Pandey and Shubham Patel beat C S Kousthik and R Vikash Prabhu of Tamil Nadu 21-15, 22-20 in the boys doubles U-17 final.

Results: U-21 boys singles: Aman Farogh Sanjay (Mah) bt Rahul Bhardwaj(Kar) 21-17,23-21 U-21 girls singles: Aakarshi Kashyap (Chha) bt Malvika Bansod (Mah) 21-11, 21-16 U-17 boys singles:Gandham Rao (Tel) bt Ravi (Haryana) 15-21, 21-18, 21-11 U-17 girls singles: Mir Tansim Ali (Guj) bt Mansi Singh (UP) 23-21, 21-16 U-17 boys doubles: Nikunj Pandey/Shubham Patel (Raj) bt C S Kousthik/R Vikash Prabhu (TN) 21-15, 22-20 U-17 girls doubles: Arya Deshpande/Ananya Phadke (Mah) bt Sakshi Asrani/Ankushka Mehta (Raj) 21-16, 21-13.