The 37th National Sub-Junior Badminton Championship concluded triumphantly at the Dalmia Bharat Gopichand Badminton Excellence Centre (Shuttle) within the Kalinga Stadium premises in Bhubaneswar.
Odisha’s young shuttler Tanvi Patri emerged as the star of the event, clinching a double crown by winning the girls’ singles titles in both the Under-15 and Under-17 categories.
In the Under-15 girls’ singles final, Tanvi dominated Telangana’s Avani Vikram Govind, securing a straight-sets victory with scores of 21-9 and 21-13. She followed this up with an impressive performance in the Under-17 girls’ singles final, overcoming Tamil Nadu’s Diksha S.R. in a thrilling three-set match: 20-21, 21-17, and 22-20.
The championship also saw strong performances from other Odisha players. In the Under-15 girls’ doubles final, the Odia pair of Swati Nayak and Nimisha Ojha put up a valiant fight but finished as runners-up, losing to Maharashtra’s Sarayu Ranjane and Soyara Selar with scores of 15-21 and 14-21.
In the boys’ categories, Karnataka’s Pushkar claimed the Under-15 singles title by defeating Delhi’s Harshit Khatri 21-17 and 21-12. For the Under-17 boys’ singles, top seed Jagseer Singh Khangura triumphed over his state compatriot Biraj Sharma with scores of 21-12 and 21-13.
Other notable results included:
– Under-15 boys’ doubles: West Bengal-Uttarakhand pair Sweyamdyuti Ghosh and Saurav Singh Rana defeated Haryana-Delhi’s Jaivardhan Hooda and Harshit Khatri 21-18, 19-21, 21-14.
– Under-15 mixed doubles: Tamil Nadu-Andhra Pradesh pair Nithin Prakash and Vijay Tejaswini beat West Bengal-Tamil Nadu’s Sweyamdyuti Ghosh and Neha S. 21-11, 19-21, 21-13.
– Under-17 mixed doubles: Karnataka’s Punith S. and Deepak Raj Aditi defeated Rajasthan-Tamil Nadu’s Arnav Sharma and Anjana Manikandan 21-16, 21-14.
– Under-17 boys’ doubles: Karnataka pair Pavan S. and Punith S. emerged champions.
– Under-17 girls’ doubles: Deepak Raj Aditi and Ponnamma B.V. took the title.
The closing ceremony featured a prize distribution attended by prominent dignitaries, including State Development Secretary and Additional Chief Secretary Anu Garg as chief guest, Sports and Youth Services Commissioner and Secretary Sachin Ramchandra Yadav, Odisha State Badminton Association President Rajesh Prabhakar Patil, Industries Director Aboli Sunil Naravane, Badminton Association of India Vice-President and Tournament Committee Chairman Shekhar Biswas, Tournament Observer K.K. Sharma, and Odisha State Badminton Association Secretary and Organizing Committee Secretary Nilin Kumar.
The Odisha State Badminton Association announced special cash awards: ₹5 lakh for double champion Tanvi Patri, and ₹2.5 lakh each for doubles runners-up Nimisha Ojha and Swati Nayak. The total prize money for the championship amounted to ₹40 lakh, distributed among champions and runners-up.
This event, organized by the Odisha State Badminton Association, highlighted the rising talent in Indian badminton and put Odisha on the map as a key hub for the sport.
