Becomes first Puneite to enter the India Junior International Grand Prix final

Pune: Unseeded Darshan Pujari stormed into the men’s singles final and likewise earned the distinction of being the first-ever Puneite to make a singles (men or women) final in eleven-year history of the India Junior International Grand Prix 2022 and played in memory of the Late Sushant Chipalkatti.

On a day when Darshan was unaware of this stat, the 18-year-old went about his semifinal against qualifier  Dhruv Negi grabbing total attention en-route his 21-12, 21-17 victory that took 39 minutes at the P. E. Society’s Modern PDMBA Sports Complex, on Saturday. The clash between India No. 10 Darshan and Uttrakhand ased Dhruv was the first ever.

For Darshan, a Khelo India winner, the title clash on Sunday will be his second in an international tourney having played the Indian Junior International Series at Hyderabad where he exit early losing to Malaysian world No. 1 Justin Ho.

“It was a learning experience… I learnt a lot from that game and this time around I was determined to do well,” said the SP College lad.

In the final Darshan takes on No. 7 seed Muhammad Halim As Sidiq (Indonesia) who put aside No. 8 Ayush Shetty 21-15, 21-15.  

While Darshan based in glory it was not the case for local lass and No.7 seed Tara Shah who went down tamely to No.3 seed Haryana lass Unnati Hooda in the first semifinals of the women’s singles.

Unnati all through was in the driver’s seat which eventually ended in her favor in straight games 21-9, 21-17.

The first game was a breeze for World No. 23 Unnati, who won seven-points-in a row and lead 7-0. Local favourite, Tara, ranked 64 ranks below her rival, found the gap too hard to narrow as Unnati thereafter upped her tempo by winning three points in a row and swell the lead to 14-6,which eventually led to the end of the first game in Unnati’s favour.

In the second Unnati led 2-0, which Tara cut to 2-1, but then again like the first game the Haryana shuttler pulled away winning six points in a row to take a 8-1 lead. Tara, thereafter, got as close as 6-10 and then 17-19 but eventually it was a day out for the in-form player Unnati who was consistent all through the 27 minutes they played on court.

RESULTS (All Indians unless mentioned otherwise)

Men's Singles, Semifinals

Darshan Pujari bt Q- Dhruv Negi 21-12, 21-17

7-Muhammad Halim As Sidiq (Indonesia) Bt 8-Ayush Shetty 21-15, 21-15

Men's Doubles

2-Uan Jeremy Zhen Liang/ M Fazriq Mohamad Razif (Malaysia) Bt Kang Khai Xing/ Aaron Tai (Malaysia) – IN PROGRESS

4-Choi Jian Sheng/ Bryan Jeremy Goonting (Malaysia) Bt Nicholas Raj/ Tushar Suveer   21-14, 21-19

Women's Singles, Semifinals

9-Sarunrak Vitidsarn (Thailand)  bt 1-Anupama Upadhyaya 21-17, 21-16

3-Unnati Hooda Bt 7-Tara Shah 21-9, 21-17 – 27 mins

Women's Doubles, Semifinals

Vennala Kalagotla/ Shriyanshi Valishetty  bt Navya Kanderi/ Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj 22-20, 21-12

Nardhana Ravishankar/ Ridhi Kaur Toor Bt Neysa Cariappa. A/ Taneesha Singh

Mixed Doubles, Semifinals

Prem Kumar Prabhu Raj Mohan/ Kanishka Ganesan Bt Sathwik Reddy Kanapuram/ Vaishnavi Khadkekar 21-15, 21-12

Divyam Arora/ Ridhi Kaur Toor  bt Samarveer/ Radhika Sharma 22-20, 24-22;

Men’s Singles, Quarterfinals

Q-Dhruv Negi bt 11-Tushar Suveer 21-17, 21-17 – 32 minutes

Darshan Pujari bt Q-Pranay Shettigar 21-14, 21-18 – 36 minutes

7-Muhammad Halim As Sidiq (Indonesia) Bt 4-Lakshay Sharma  21-19, 21-23, 22-20;

8-Ayush Shetty bt 2-Pranav Rao Gandham 21-10, 21-17

Women’s Singles, Quarterfinals

1-Anupama Upadhyaya bt 15-Sreshta Reddy Kannareddy 22-20, 21-11;

9-Sarunrak Vitidsarn (Thailand) bt Navya Kanderi 21-14, 21-12;

3-Unnati Hooda  Bt Q-Tanvi Sharma 21-11, 21-17;

7-Tara Shah bt Shriyanshi Valishetty 21-18, 11-21, 21-19;