Maisnam Meraba, Samiya Farooqui win titles in Jr Badminton

Manipur lad Maisnam Meraba and Telangana's Samiya Imad Farooqui won the boys and girls under-19 singles titles respectively in the Microplex Global and Yonex-Sunrise All-India Junior Ranking badminton Tournament here on Sunday. The second-seeded Meiraba had things easy when his Delhi rival Aakash Yadav retired mid-way through the second game due to injury.

The Manipur boy was leading 21-9, 12-7 when Yadav decided to call it quits. In the girls final, Samiya, the Asia Under-15 champion, hailed as the new prodigy from the Gopichand Academy, easily beat Delhi's No.16 seed Aashi Rawat 21-17, 21-12 in the final. Samiya jumped to a 16-12 lead before Aashi fought back to narrow the lead to 15-17 but couldn't sustain the fight and went down 17-21. The second game was a one-sided affair after some early defiance from the Delhi loss.

Results-All Finals: Boys under-19 singles: Maisnam Meiraba (Manipur-X2) bt Aakash Yadav (X5) 21-9 12-7 (retired). Girls under-19 singles: Samiya Imad Farooqui (TS X-5) bt Aashi Rawat (X16) 21-17, 21-12. Boys Doubles: Ishaan Bhatnagar (CHG) & Vishnuvardhan Goud P (TS X2) bt Manjit Singh Khwairakpam & Dingku Sing Konthoujam (Manipur X1) 21-18, 21-13. Girls Doubles: Aditi Bhatt (UTR) & Tanisha Crasto (Goa X2) bt Simran Singhi & Ritika Thakar (Mah X6) 21-14, 21-16. Mixed Doubles: Dingku Singh Konthoujam (Manipur) & Ritika Thacker (Mah X5) bt Ishaan Bhatnagar (CHG) & Tanisha Crasto (Goa) 21-18, 21-12..