India lived up to the favourites’ tag and thrashed Nepal 3-0 to win the first ever South Asian Regional Badminton Tournament on Tuesday.
India, who came into the final unbeaten, continued their good run with Aryaman Tandon drawing the first blood in the boys’ singles competition. Taking on Dipesh Dhami, Aryaman, ranked third in India (under-19), picked up an easy 21-9, 21-15 victory to give the hosts an early advantage.
Local star Ashmita Chaliha continued the Indian dominance winning 21-9, 21-6 versus Rashila Maharjan in the girls’ singles event. Ashmita, who has been picked up by the North Eastern Warriors for the upcoming edition of the Premier Badminton League, registered a comprehensive victory to double India’s lead.
In the boys’ doubles event, the pair of Arintap Dasgupta and Krishna Prasad G had to stave off a challenge from Nepalese duo of Dipesh Dhami and Nabin Shrestha. Nepal started off well winning the first game 21-19. However, the Indians came back stronger and won the next two games 21-14, 21-11.
Sanjay Mishra, the Indian junior badminton coach said, “It was a great performance by the squad and we are happy with the way they played. It was as easy as the results show. Nepal are a good team and I am really happy that the team executed the plans as had discussed.”
With the team championship over, the individual competition will commence from Wednesday.
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