The fighting spirit comes to the fore

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Junior level tournaments are always a surprise package as they consist of close games and new heroes emerge every time.

The recently concluded BPCL KRL All Kerala Junior Ranking badminton championship had its share of excitement, enough to warm the cockles of sports fans.

There were 20 finals, including singles, doubles and mixed doubles, in age categories such as under-11, uner-13, under-15, under-17 and under-19, played in the championship and there were 22 winners. The most successful of them was Kozhikode girl Shruthy K.P., who came first in three events.

Shruthy struck gold in under-19 girls singles beating Anagha Unni of Ernakulam and then went on to clinch the first place in girls' doubles partnering Farha Mather. She later completed her treble in the mixed doubles with Adarsh A. Binoy.

There were two other shuttlers who got more than one first prize, such as Malavika J.K. of Thiruvananthapuram and Adarsh A. Binoy of Kozhikode.

Malavika had won the under-15 girls singles and doubles titles while Adarsh emerged the winner in under-17 boys doubles partnering Aditya Prakash and also had the final laugh in the mixed doubles event.

For all who thought youngsters nowadays, do not have that fighting spirit in them (as some are known to complain), a few closely fought final games proved otherwise. The best example was the final of under-13 boys doubles.

In a three-setter, Ernakulam boys Eva Joh Abraham and Sidarth V. fought back after losing their first set 21-7 to level with a 17-21 in the second. They gave a fight and eventually lost 21-18 to Mohammed Zakeer and Mohammed Muanis who displayed great temperament.

Yet another exciting final was in the under-17 girls' doubles where the duo of Haritha and Bonetha bounced back after losing the first set 15-21 to Sinymol P.S. and Agna Anto. They held their nerve to finish it off, 21-18, 21-19.