The Hindu : Sport / Badminton : Ernakulam, Kozhikode corner glory

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 30, 2006

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Sport - Badminton

Ernakulam, Kozhikode corner glory

KOCHI: Ernakulam, home to some of India's brightest stars, defeated Thiruvananthapuram 3-0 and completed a hat-trick of triumphs in the 37th Seshasayee State senior inter-district badminton championship at the FACT Udyogamandal Club on Tuesday.

It was not a cake-walk though. With the host pushing its young players Alwyn Francis and Antony Jacob to the firing line first, Ernakulam was taken the full distance in all its three men's matches.

International Aparna Balan inspired Kozhikode to the women's crown. Fresh from her sterling South Asian Games show in Colombo, the 20-year-old Aparna figured in both the singles and doubles as Kozhikode upset defending champion Thrissur 2-0 in the final.

The results (inter-district championship): Men's final: Ernakulam bt Thiruvananthapuram 3-0 (Alwyn Francis bt Arvind Sankar 21-17, 19-21, 21-17; Antony K. Jacob bt S. Manoj 17-21, 21-18, 21-17; Sanave Thomas & Jaison Xavier bt Rakesh Sekhar & Ayyappan Krishnan 21-15, 15-21, 21-10). Semifinals: Ernakulam bt Kozhikode 3-0 (Antony Jacob bt Nidhilesh Sunder 21-16, 21-19; Alwyn Francis bt T.K. Jamsheed 21-14, 21-15; Jaison Xavier & Alwyn bt Chiloop Valson & Ram C. Vijay 21-7, 21-15); Thiruvananthapuram bt Thrissur 3-0 (Ayyappan Krishnan bt P.H. Suraj 22-20, 21-14; Arvind Shanker bt Bennet Antony 21-7, 17-21, 21-12; Ayyappan & Tariq Mohammed bt P.V. Binoy & Vineet Nandan 21-17, 22-21, 21-11).

Women's final: Kozhikode bt Thrissur 2-0 (Aparna Balan bt Nima Lakshmi 21-15, 21-11; Aparna Balan & M. Sruthi bt Merit George & Miral George 21-15, 21-10). Semifinals: Kozhikode bt Ernakulam 2-0 (M. Sruthi bt P.S. Anumol 21-4, 21-11; Aparna Balan & M. Sruthi bt P.S. Anumol & P.S. Linimol 21-9, 21-11).

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