Kerala - Kozhikode   

Another feather in Calicut University's cap

WINNING QUARTET: Neema Lakshmi, Susan Rajan, Merrit George and Aparna Balan.

KOZHIKODE: Sport is one area the universities of Kerala have excelled in, always. In the past few weeks alone at the All-India inter-university meets, MG University triumphed in athletics, Kannur in women's basketball and volleyball and Kerala in rowing. The other day in Gwalior, Calicut University took the crown in the All-India women's badminton, riding on a stellar performance from international Aparna Balan.

The India No. 2 in women's doubles (and No. 6 in singles) did not drop even a single game as she led her team to a memorable victory, on what was her debut. "We faced the stiffest challenge from Nagarjuna, in the final, as they had a couple of good, experienced players in Ashiwini Choudhary and T. Sowmya,"says Aparna, a B.A. (History) First Year student at Providence College, Kozhikode.

"Last year, we had lost to them in the final," recalls Merrit George, who is delighted to be a part of the winning team, finally. Susan Rajan and Neema Lakshmi complete Calicut's champion quartet.

It was of course Aparna who made the difference in Gwalior. "We knew that we had a good chance to win the title," she says, "after winning the South Zone tournament in Bangalore."

P. K. AJITH KUMAR

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