The 2nd PSA Maharashtra State Open Junior badminton tournament got under way at the North India Association on Saturday. This year, the tournament has drawn competitors from as far as Nagpur.
The tournament director and coach of PSA, Jitesh Padukone said, “Last year, it was an unofficial tournament so it was restricted to Mumbai. We had over 200 entries, which was good but I believed we could do better. So this year we have a state open tournament.”
One of the top outstation players at the competition is Saurab Kerhalkar from Nagpur. The 12-year-old is one of the top four under-13 players in the state.
Although the tournament has participants from outstation, most of the top players from the city, apart from Riya Pillai and Lalita Katre, have skipped the tournament. “This was the case last year as well. They are a part of other coaching academies and there is a lot of internal politics so they don’t send their players. Even if they haven’t come, we have overall 300 entries, thanks to all the players coming in from out of the city,” Padukone said.
Entries from the city are still coming in according to Padukone.
“The entries are still flooding. We are trying to accommodate everyone. The total prize money is Rs 50,000 and the top three or four players that we spot will be given a free one-year scholarship of PSA. I believe that is a great enticement that has drawn players to this tournament. Although the top ones are not here, the children who have come to play will get a very good exposure because there are players from outstation as well,” said Padukone.
Boys U-13 (2nd round): P Jain bt A Kamble 30-9; N Thakkar bt R Shetty 30-13; R Bhagwat bt S Boparikar 30-26; S Kerhalkar bt R Dahiralkar 30-6; S Rangavithal bt S Thool 30-25, P Guglot bt S Vats 30-20; S Bapat bt Pavithran 30-18; M Janpandit bt S Purandare 30-5; S Joshi bt D Sinkar 30-10; A Bam bt N Zaveri 30-11
