Shuttlers Kuhoo Garg and Chirag Sen became the youngest players to win a medal in 78th Senior National Badminton Championship when they defeated Pranaav Chopra and Maneesha K. in the mixed doubles semi-finals at the Siri Fort Stadium in New Delhi.
The unheralded pair clinched the bronze medal on their maiden appearance in the Nationals after their fancied rivals Pranaav Chopra and Maneesha conceded the match in the third game with the score reading 22—20, 16—21, 1—3.
However, Kuhoo and Chirag suffered a 9—21, 11—21 defeat to the experienced combo of Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan, seeded second, in the semi-finals.
Kuhoo and Chirag, who are in the age category of under-16, reached the quarterfinals after beating fourth seeded players Rachita Sahdev and Abhinav Manota.
The Uttarakhand shuttlers had participated for the first time in Senior National Badminton Championship and won the Bronze Medal.
Kuhoo, who is a recipient of Sports Scholarship from ONGC, was selected for Indian Junior team and had participated in Badminton Asia Youth U-19 Championships at Malaysia in July this year. She also participated in U-17 Badminton Asia Youth Championships held in Kudos, Indonesia in October where she reached the quarterfinals.
She also participated in Junior World Championships 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand from October 23 to November 3.
A student of Class XI in Sanskrit School, Kuhoo will join Pullela Gopichand’s Academy in Hyderabad for further training.
