Junior National Badminton Championship: Siddharath Thakur beats Harshvardhan Bisht in first round
India’s Siddharath Thakur made his presence felt by defeating his compatriot Harshvardhan Bisht in the first round of Boy’s Singles U19 category at the 36th Junior National Badminton Championship at Jaipur, India, on Wednesday, February 8.
Siddharath delivered a superb performance against his country-mate and won the battle in hard-fought three games. He consumed 47 minutes in the court to prove his superiority over his rival.
On the other hand, Harshvardhan played equally well in this thrilling contest but failed to maintain his momentum in the deciding game and lost the rubber-set match with a tight margin.
In the opening set, both boys showed their spirited play as they executed powerful strokes and remained close in the first half. Their quicker movement in all corners of the court kept the tempo of rallies quite fast.
After the break, Siddharath changed his game plan and started to keep the bird low. He executed parallel strokes in order to push his rival on back foot.
His tactical play worked well and he took a comfortable lead over his opponent and ended the game with a remarkable difference of 21-15.
In the second set, Harshvardhan changed his strategy and played with precision by taking the bird early at net area. He also executed perfect down-the-line strokes on both sides of his challenger. Until the break, he managed a reasonable lead on the score board.
After the break, Siddharath tried to level the score by increasing his speed but he failed to find gaps in his challenger’s court. In desperation, he executed many hasty strokes which landed wide of the court. He eventually lost the game with a margin of 17-21.
Stung by the loss of second set, Siddharath did not drop his speed in the deciding game and played aggressive badminton. He remained in complete control of rallies and kept his rival moving around in the court.
Siddharath did not let his rival to level the score even for a single time in the concluding part of second game and ended it with a sensational margin of 21-14.
This Boy’s Singles U19 battle ended in the favour of Siddharath, who put up strong show and finished the contest with a 21-15, 17-21 and 21-14 score on the board.
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