Nagpur: Star international shuttler Ritika Thaker from Nagpur won two silver medals at the All India Public Sector Badminton tournament which concluded at the KBA Stadium at Bengaluru, the other day. After helping her team Airports Authority of India (AAI) to win the gold medal in the team event, Ritika claimed two silver medals in women’s doubles and mixed doubles.
In the women’s doubles third seed Ritika and Priya Devi started their campaign in style with a fluent win over Jyoti Swaroopa and Sumitra Pujari 21-2, 21-2. In the quarter-finals they beat Anju Jakhar and Shourya Yadav 21-1, 21-6 and then ousted second seed Anagha Pai and Srisai Sravya 21-15, 21-17.
Gold Rate
Wednesday 07 Jan. 2025
In the summit clash they went down to top seeded pair of Mansa and Gayatri Rawat 19-21, 20-22 to claim silver. In the mixed doubles, Ritika and Nitin HV, who were seeded 4th, lost the final in 57 minutes to Manisha K and S Sunjeet 16-21, 22-20, 21-18. They had started on a positive note to beat Vaibhav Chatata and Rashmi Khare in the round of 16 21-8, 21-7. In the quarters, they got the better of Sarabjit Bhowmik and Amrita Bhattacharaya 21-7, 21-3 and in the semis, they upset top seeds Shivan Sharma and Poorvisha Ram 21-17, 23-21, 21-9.
Ritika said she was happy with the results. “The semis and finals were played within a gap of a few hours on the same day which made it difficult for me to recoup and keep a consistent performance. All my matches went to the wire and a couple of them in three games which took the toll,” she said. Ritika practices at Suchitra Academy in Hyderabad.
