Vrushali in line for grand double in Gautam Thakkar memorial tournament

G Vrushali of Andhra Pradesh was in her elements and stayed in line for a grand double. The shuttler reached the final of both the girl’s singles under-17 and under-19 events in the Rs 10 lakhs prize-money 2nd Gautam Thakkar Memorial All India Junior Masters Prize Money Badminton Tournament, played at the Bombay Gymkhana, on Saturday.
Seeded third in the under-19 category, Vrushali got the better of Maharashtra fourth seed Shruti Mundada in straight games 21-15, 21-16.
Earlier in the afternoon, Vrushali produced a remarkable performance to stun top seed Sudha Kalyani also from Andhra Pradesh 21-17, 21-9.
In the boy’s competition, Talar Laa of Air India seeded fourth recorded a shock win in three games against top seed Arshalan Naqvi of Uttar Pradesh in the under-17 semi-final.
Third seed Kaushal Dharmamer kept Maharashtra’s hopes alive, when he stunned second seed Daniel Farid S. of Karnataka 21-18, 21-15 in the second semi-final.
Results:
Girls’ under-17 singles (semi-finals):
Vrushali G. (AP) beat Sudha Kalyani (AP) 21-17, 21-19; Malvika J.K. (Ker) beat Anoushka Parikh (Guj) 21-16, 21-18.

Boys’ under-17 singles (semi-finals): Talar Laa (AI) beat Arshalan Naqvi (UP) 21-14, 10-21, 21-19; Kaushal Dharmamer (Mah) beat Daniel Farid S. (Ktk) 21-18, 21-15.
Girls’ under-19 singles (semi-finals): Vrushali G (AP) beat Shruti Mundada (Mah) 21-15, 21-16.

(Courtesy -- Gordon D'Costa)