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Badminton
By Our Special Correspondent
Krishna Deka Raja (left) and Anand Pawar, winners of the girls' and boys' crowns respectively in the Junior National badminton championship at Thane on Sunday.
Konddeo stadium's Khandu Rangnekar Hall. The event is sponsored by Indian Oil and co-sponsored by Reliance Infocomm. The Assam girl, training at Bangalore's Sports Authority of India under Prasad Ganguly, did not feel threatened by competition in the girls' category and even talented Saina did not stand a chance once she got into rhythm, winning 5-11, 13-12, 11-5 in just under an hour. The fact that Krishna could not take part in enough national-level events to be considered worthy of a seeding in the main draw didn't even register on the badminton fans who watched her assert herself against the top seed. "I gave away too many negative points in the first game, I just could not clear the net," said Krishna about the first game loss, but once she got into rhythm at 3-9 down in the second game, the class, control and craft came to the fore. The Assam girl fought back with superb drops to test the top seed's resolve, becoming so confident that the prospect of facing matchpoint twice at 10-12 did not deter her from giving expression to her skills. Saina was at the receiving end in the decider, facing a 1-5 deficit and a brief fightback towards close only delayed the inevitable. Krisha later partnered state Bahniman Bora to pick up the mixed doubles title, beating the Maharashtra pair of Nishad Dravid and Dhanya Nair, while Saina picked up the girls' doubles crown teaming up with Kerala's Aparna Balan. Dravid, surprising himself by advancing to the boys' singles final as the eighth seed, ahead of in-form players like Bora and Rohan Castellino, found himself in trouble against fitter and faster Mumbai lad Anand Pawar, son of former international Uday Pawar, the latter winning 15-5, 15-7 in 25 minutes. Anand is now at a different level compared to the rest of the junior pack, the difference visible in the manner in which he made Dravid hopping and scrambling diagonally across the court with deceptive strokeplay and except at 3-3 in the second game when the eighth seed won a long rally, greeted with applause all round the stadium, was totally focused and in command of the situation. "The long rally played to my advantage because he got tired and then it was only a matter of time," said the Mumbai lad, looking forward to making a mark in senior ranks. The results (all finals): Girls singles: Krishna Deka Raja (Assam) bt 1-Saina Nehwal (Andhra Pradesh) 5-11, 13-12, 11-5. Boys singles: 2-Anand Pawar (Maharashtra) bt 8-Nishad Dravid (Maharashtra) 15-5, 15-7. Girls doubles: Saina Nehwal (AP)/Aparna Balan (Kerala) bt Krishna Deka Raja/Rimi Hazarika (Asm) 15-11, 15-8. Boys' doubles: Ayyappan Krishnan (Ker)/Sagar Chopda (Mah) bt T. Dinesh/Sharat Chandra (AP) 15-8, 15-8. Mixed doubles: Bahniman Bora/Krishna Deka Raja (Asm) bt Nishad Dravid/Dhanya Nair (Mah) 15-10, 15-9.
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