Inspired by 22-year-old Shubankar Dey, Pune shocked defending champions Mumbai Suburban 3-1 in the team final to lift the inter-district crown at the Safal Group-Maharashtra Inter-District and State Badminton Championships here today.
Dey, ranked No 4 in the country, played some intelligent all-round game to beat Harsheel Dani in three games in the opening tie which paved the way for Punes title triumph at the Chembur Gymkhana.
Deys win was followed by Neha Pandit who made it 2-0 as she routed junior Simran Singhi 21-10, 21-12.
Though Pune lost the men's doubles match when the pair of Sameer Bhagwat and Varun Khanwalkar conceded the tie when trailing 3-13 due to knee injury to Sameer, their women's doubles combination of Revati Devasthale and Shruti Mundada saw them through with a straight-game win over Sonal More and Riya Pillai.
Results:
Semifinals: Pune bt Thane 3-1: Shubhankar Dey bt Kabir Kanzarkar 21-19, 21-19; Neha Pandit bt Saili Rane 21-19, 21-12; Sameer Bhagwat/Varun Khanwalkar lost to Jishnu Sanyal/Eshan Naqvi 17-21, 20-22; Revati Devasthale/Shruti Mundada bt Saili Rane/Valklati Bukane 23-21, 21-6. Mumbai Suburban bt Nagpur 3-1: Harseel Dani bt Gaurav Rege 21-9, 21-14; Vaishnavi Iyer lost to Vaishnavi Bhave 10-21, 13-21; Chirag Shetty/Shlok Ramchandran bt Gaurav Rege/Govind nSahasrabuddhe 21-9, 21-13; Riya Pillai/Vaishnavi Iyer bt Mrunmayee Saoji/Vaishanvi Bhave 21-11, 21-19.
Final: Pune bt Mumbai Suburban 3-1: Shubhankar Dey bt Harsheel Dani 19-21, 21-12, 21-15; Neha Pandit bt Simran Singhi 21-10, 21-12; Sameer Bhagwat/Varun Khanwalkar lost to Chirag Shetty/Shlok Ramchandran 3-12 (retd due to knee injury); Revati Devasthale/Shruti Mundada bt Sonal More/Riya Pillai 21-14, 21-19.
