CHANDIGARH, SEPT 24 :International Oscar Bansal and Navita Thakur claimed the men’s and women’s singles titles, respectively, in the 20th Yonex Chandigarh State Badminton Championship conducted by Chandigarh Badminton Club under the patronage of Chandigarh Badminton Association at the Sector 42 Badminton Hall here today.
Watched by a sizable crowd, both final produced thrilling badminton. Oscar Bansal defeated Vivek Sharma 21-14, 21-18 in the men’s singles final and Navita overcame a stiff challenge from Manju Chahal by 21-11, 22-20 in the women’s singles contest.
Vivek started confidently by taking a 2-0 lead in the first game before Oscar Bansal started asserting himself. Soon Bansal was 5-2 up and slowly tightened his grip over the match with his powerful shots and footwork. He won the first game at 21-14.
In the second game, Vivek put up improved show. Trailing 7-11, Vivek with his excellent shots and placements, rallied to level the score at 17-all. With good match temperament, Oscar kept his cool and allowed only one more point to his opponent before clinching the game at 21-18.
The women’s singles lasted 30 minutes. Top seed Navita and Manju Chahal were two-all in the first game. Navita slowly and steadily continued to collect points and won the game at 21-11.
Manju displayed her talent in the second game. She raced to a 4-1 lead before Navita restored parity at 6-all. In a ding-dong battle, both players were seen in their best form. The score read 9-8, 12-12, 13-13, 15-15, 18-18 and 20-20. Navita then recorded two successive points to win the game at 22-20 and the title.
Chandigarh Mayor Pardeep Chhabra was the chief guest and Chandigarh Badminton Association president M.C. Sethi presided over the closing ceremoney.The Mayor promised to help in the promotion of badminton by releasing a grant of Rs 1.5 lakh through Minister of State of Finance Pawan Bansal.
Uncrowned badminton Dronacharya DM Mukerjee was among those felicitated on the occasion.