Tanya Hemanth excelled as the penultimate day of the Junior White Nights International Series badminton tournament completely belonged to the Indians. All three Indians in the fray at the four-day tournament stormed into the finals in Gatchina, Russia.
While the lone Indian in the Under-19 girls singles, Tanya Hemanth, sailed into the final with ease, the two Indian boys carved out a couple of impressive wins each to set up an all-India summit clash.
Top seed Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian and unseeded Saneeth Dayanand Shimoga will vie for the title on Sunday.
Living up to her top billing, Tanya Hemanth overcame a late challenge from third seed Lucie Amiguet of Switzerland 21-7, 25-23 to book her place in the final.
The 17-year-old Bengaluru girl defeated local hope Galina Mezentseva 21-10, 21-14 in the quarter-finals earlier in the day.
In the second round, Tanya Hemanth, a trainee at Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, thumped Russia’s Anna Kirillova 21-9, 21-14 in exactly 30 minutes. Hemanth has won all her matches at this tournament so far without losing a single game.
I was mentally prepared to play two matches in a day: Tanya Hemanth
World No. 260 Tanya Hemanth was pleased with her performance so far in the tournament and admitted that she was ready to play multiple matches in a single day.
“I was mentally and physically prepared to play two matches in a day,” Tanya Hemanth told Sportskeeda. “In the second game of the semis I was leading comfortably but due to unforced errors from my side the set became close. Overall it was a good day. I would like to thank my PPBA coaches for their support.”
Dayanand steals the show on Saturday
Men’s singles top seed Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian dismissed Nikita Muleev of Russia 21-10, 21-8 in the semis in just 20 minutes. In the second round, Sankar Muthusamy ousted Russia’s Bogdan Nazarov 21-6, 21-9 in 25 minutes.
However, the star performer of the day was undoubtedly Saneeth Dayanand Shimoga. He caused two upsets in a day to seal his place in the final.
The talented youngster shocked fourth seed Daniil Dubovenko of Russia 21-14, 21-19 in the semis after stunning second Nicolas Franconville of Switzerland) 21-5, 21-9 in the quarters.
Indian results at a glance:
Under-19 boys singles
Quarter-finals: 1-Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian bt Aleksandr Gurianov (Russia) 19-21, 21-4, 21-7 (35 minutes); Saneeth Dayanand Shimoga bt 2-Nicolas Franconville (Switzerland) 21-5 21-9 (25 minutes).
Semi-finals: 1-Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian bt Nikita Muleev (Russia) 21-10, 21-8 (20 minutes); Saneeth Dayanand Shimoga bt 4-Daniil Dubovenko (Russia) 21-14, 21-19 (48 minutes)
Under-19 girls singles
Quarter-final: 1-Tanya Hemanth bt Galina Mezentseva (Russia) 21-10, 21-14 (30 minutes).
Semi-final: 1-Tanya Hemanth bt 3-Lucie Amiguet (Switzerland) 21-7, 25-23 (28 minutes).
Final line-up
Under-19 boys singles: 1-Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian (India) vs Saneeth Dayanand Shimoga (India).
Under-19 girls singles: 1-Tanya Hemanth (India) vs 2-Aleksandra Chushkina (Russia).