Anmol Joon was the lone No. 1 seed to survive the arduous qualifying event in the PNB Metlife Chaaji memorial all-India sub-junior badminton tournament here on Wednesday.
Anmol had defeated Ravi Uttej Ayyagari Phani 15-7, 15-10 in the penultimate round in a qualifying draw of 256 in the boys’ under-13 event, and is set to meet Vivek Bansal in the final qualifying round.
While the top seeds in the other events, Shivani Nibadiya (u-13 girls), Rahul Kane (u-15 boys) and Lakshmi Priyanka (u-15 girls) failed to make it, it was a gigantic task for the organisers to go through hundreds of matches in the boys and girls sections in the two age groups, in singles and doubles, within three days.
The entries were overwhelming with 239 (u-13 boys), 150 (u-13 girls), 401 (u-15 boys) and 287 (u-15 girls) in the four sections. The main draw featuring 64 players in the u-13 boys section, and 32 players in the other three singles events, will be played from Thursday to Saturday. The tournament, offering a total scholarship fund of Rs. 300,000, has already proved to be a “'round the clock” badminton festival for the players and their parents. — Special Correspondent
