S. Santhosh Jestine claims Boy’s Singles U19 title at Puducherry State Badminton Championship
India’s spirited shuttler S. Santhosh Jestine stole the limelight by claiming Boy’s Singles U19 title after showing his tremendous skills in the final encounter when he overpowered his higher ranked team-mate Adarsh Srivatsa. D at 31st Puducherry
State Badminton Championship – III Phase on Sunday, August 12, in India.
The in-form Santhosh, who was the second seeded player in the main draw of Boy’s Singles U19 category, put up staggering performance on court and overpowered his top seeded opponent Adarsh in an epic battle.
The lower ranked Santhosh was not at his best in the opening game but he proved his mettle in the following sets and registered a narrow victory over Adarsh by ending up the match in rubber games.
On the other hand, the top seeded Adarsh found a good start and grabbed the first set. However, he failed to stop the aggression of Santhosh in the following game and lost the match with a tight margin in three sets.
It was one of the best fights of the day as both shuttlers employed all of their skills to push each other in all corners of the court.
Until the break in the opening game, it was the higher ranked Adarsh who managed a small lead.
After the interval, Santhosh tried to narrow the gap but failed to maintain his focus and eventually lost the game with a 17-21 score on the board.
In the second game, Santhosh did not let his rival to dominate the pace of rallies and remained close to him until the end of first half.
After the mid-game interval, Santhosh played with precision and managed to remain slightly ahead on score board. He was focused in the ending points and took the game with a tight score of 21-19.
In the deciding set, both players continued their power play and grabbed the attention of local crowd. They reached at the ending phase without setting up any lead.
However, it was Santhosh who proved his worth again and played positive badminton at this crucial stage to end up the set with a tight difference of 21-19.
The spirited Santhosh won the title by finishing off the final battle with a close 17-21, 21-19 and 21-19 score on the board.
Tags: