G D Birla Masters Memorial Badminton Report

 Photo Caption: Rajesh D’souza & Naheed Divecha in action during Semi Finals

D’Souza in line for a double

Rajesh D’Souza kept himself in line for a double, entering two finals in the G D Birla Memorial Masters Badminton Tournament, organized by Badminton 45, managed by Badminton Gurukul and hosted by Bombay Gymkhana.

The Bombay Gymkhana pairing of D’Souza and Shailesh Daga rallied from the loss of the first game to get past Gautam Ashra and Gautam Lad 12-21, 21-10, 21-10 in the Men’s Combination 110+ semis. They take on Abhay Naik and Anoopkumar Shukla of Andheri Recreation Club, who beat Kaushik Kamdar and Pankaj Gandhi 21-13, 21-19.

 D’Souza then combined with Naheed Divecha to beat Neel  Ramchandani and Rima Jain 21-12, 21-11 and make the final of the 80+ Mixed Combination. However, the top seeds will have a fight on their hands in the final when they take on second seeds Ayaz Bilawala and former international Aparna Popat, who got the better of Sandeep Mohan and Kiran Shete 21-19, 12-21, 21-19.

Top seed Manoj Nachanekar will take on third seed Chetan Bandarkar in the Professional  Singles final, while Bandarkar and Rajan Samant will meet Nachanekar and Rahul Bhuwad in the professional doubles final.

Results:

Men’s Combination 110+ SF: Abhay Naik/Anoopkumar Shukla bt Kaushik Kamdar/Pankaj Gandhi - 21-13, 21-9; Rajesh D'souza/Shailesh Daga[2] bt Gautam Ashra/Gautam Laud - 12-21 21-10 21-10.

Mixed Combination 80+ SF: Rajesh D’souza/Naheed Divecha[1] bt Neel Ramchandani/Rima Jain - 21-12, 21-11; Ayaz Bilawala/Aparna Popat[2] bt Sandeep Mohan+Kiran Shete - 21-19, 12-21, 21-19.

Professional Singles SF: Manoj Nachanekar[1] bt Rajan Samant[4] - 21-13, 21-11; Chetan Bandarkar[3] bt Shubham More  - 21-14, 21-1.

Professional Doubles SF: Chetan Bandarkar/Rajan Samant[1]  bt Ananda Maskar/Shubham More[4] - 21-16, 21-14; Manoj Nachanekar/Rahul Bhuwad[2] bt  Pranita Bane/Premal Mankar[3] - 21-15, 21-15.