Pranay Katta, Parul Choudhary, Aryan Tyagi-Murli Sharma triumph in North Zone Badminton Championship

JAIPUR: After their historic senior men's team championship triumph on Friday, the Rajasthan shuttlers continued their dream performance by dominating the individual events of the North Zone Inter-State Badminton Championship which concluded in Chandigarh on Sunday.
The five-day annual tournament was organised by the Badminton Association of India.
For the first time in the history of Rajasthan badminton, three titles including the all-important men's singles were grabbed by them.The in-form Rajasthan shuttlers featured in five finals out of ten as they wrapped up a golden week.
Jaipur youngster Pranay Katta rallied back to stun top seed Lakshay Sharma 8-21, 21-8, 21-18 in an exciting men's singles clash. Second seed Pranay, who trains at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bengaluru, lost the opening game but staged a spectacular comeback to outlast his Punjab opponent.
Sub-junior Indian team player Parul Choudhary demolished Delhi's Rishka Nandi 21-15, 21-14 in the U-19 girls singles final. Southpaw Parul, who recently represented the country in the Asian U-17 Championship in China, dominated her senior rival from the word go. Sixteen-year-old Parul is being coached by Manish Sharma.
In the U-19 boys doubles, Rajasthan's Aryan Tyagi and Murli Sharma thumped Druv Datta and Mridul Jha of Punjab 21-15, 21-18 to help their state bag the third gold medal in the individuals.
However, Rajasthan had to be satisfied with runners-up positions in the U-19 boys singles and men's doubles. Rajasthan's second seed Manish Phogat lost to Sonna Ginapual of Delhi 18-21, 14-21, while men's doubles combination of Denish Shrivastava and Shubham Patel went down fighting against the top seeds Bhavya Chhabra and Param Choudhary of Delhi.
Secretary of Rajasthan Badminton Association (RBA) KK Sharma was elated with his team's overall performance in Chandigarh.
"It was the most successful North Zone tournament for Rajasthan. We not only won the maiden team title, but we also excelled in the individual events. All the players deserve a pat on their back for this brilliant show. Team coaches Tribhuvan Bisht, Zakir Hussain and Anuradha Bhatnagar motivated the players to give their best," said KK Sharma, who is also the joint secretary of Badminton Association of India.
Union minister and RBA president Gajendra Singh Shekhawat congratulated the entire Rajasthan badminton squad for their outstanding performance.
Individual events results (Finals)
Men's singles: 2-Pranay Katta bt Lakshay Sharma 8-21, 21-8, 21-18
U-19 girls singles: Parul Choudhary bt Rishika Nandi 21-15, 21-14
U-19 boys doubles: Aryan Tyagi-Murli Sharma bt Druv Datta-Mridul Jha 21-15, 21-18
U-19 boys singles: 2-Manish Phogat lost to Sonna Ginapual 18-21, 14-21
Men's doubles: 2-Denish Shrivastava-Shubham Patel lost to 1-Bhavya Chhabra-Param Choudhary 15-21, 19-21.