Shubhankar Dey, a 22-year-old Punite , ranked No. 4 in the country, played some intelligent allround game to beat Harsheel Dani in the opening tie which paved the way for fancied Pune upset defending champions Mumbai Suburban 3-1 to wrest the trophy in the inter-ditrict final of the Safal Group -Maharashtra Inter-district and State badminton championships, hosted by Sports United at Chembur Gymkhana here today.
Winners Pune receiving the Winners’ trophy of Maharashtra Inter-district and State badminton championships, from the chief guest Mr Sanjay Asrani, of Safal Group.
Shubhankar’s win was followed by Neha Pandit made it 2-0 as she routed junior Simran Singhi 21-10, 21-12, Though Pune lost the men’s doubles pair of Sameer Bhagwat and Varun Khanwalkar as they conceded the tie due when trailing 3-13, to knee injury to Sameer, their women’s doubles combination of Revati Devasthale and Shruti Mundada saw them through with a hard-hitting win over Sonal More and Riya Pillai..
Results: (Semifinals):
Pune bt Thane 3-1: Shubhankar Dey bt Kabir Kanzarkar 21-19, 21-19; Neha Pandit bt Saili Rane 21-19, 21-12; Sameer Bhagwat/Varun Khanwalkar lost to Jishnu Sanyal/Eshan Naqvi 17-21, 20-22; Revati Devasthale/Shruti Mundada bt Saili Rane/Valklati Bukane 23-21, 21-6.
Mumbai Suburban bt Nagpur 3-1:Harseel Dani bt Gaurav Rege 21-9, 21-14; Vaishnavi Iyer lost to Vaishnavi Bhave 10-21, 13-21; Chirag Shetty/Shlok Ramchandran bt Gaurav Rege/Govind nSahasrabuddhe 21-9, 21-13; Riya Pillai/Vaishnavi Iyer bt Mrunmayee Saoji/Vaishanvi bhave 21-11, 21-19.
(FINAL): Pune bt Mumbai Suburban 3-1: Shubhankar Dey bt Harsheel Dani 19-21, 21-12, 21-15; Neha Pandit bt Simran Singhi 21-10, 21-12; Sameer Bhagwat/Varun Khanwalkar lost to Chirag Shetty/Shlok Ramchandran 3-12 (retd due to knee injury); ; Revati Devasthale/Shruti Mundada bt Sonal More/Riya Pillai 21-14, 21-19.