Riya to face Mutatkar in Maharashtra badminton final

Mumbai - Mumbai Suburban’s 19-year-old Riya Pillai pulled off a major upset, defeating second seed Pune’s Anuradha Shrikhande 21-18, 16-21, 21-19 to storm into the women’s singles final of the Maharashtra Senior State Selection Badminton Tournament Sunday.

In the final, Riya will face top seed Pune’s Aditi Mutatkar who cantered past Mumbai Suburban’s third seed Sonal More 21-11, 21-8.

In the men’s final, Thane’s second seed Subhankar Dey will meet Mumbai Suburban’s Sagar Chopda, the top seed. In the first semifinal, Sagar Chopda beat the third seed from Pune, Mayank Gole 21-13, 21-13, while in the second semifinal Subhankar defeated Akshat Patil 21-10, 21-9.

Semifinal results: Men’s: 1-Sagar Chopda (Mumbai) bt 3-Mayank Gole (Pune) 21-13, 21-13; 2-Subhankar Dey (Thane) bt Akshat Patil (Mumbai) 21-10, 21-9.

Women’s: 1-Aditi Mutatkar (Pune) bt 3-Sonal More (Mumbai) 21-11, 21-8; 4-Riya Pillai (Mumbai) bt 2-Anuradha Shrikhande (Pune) 21-18, 16-21, 21-19.

Men’s Doubles: 1-Abhishek Kulkarni/Prashant Bahatre (Thane) bt Abhidnya Sawant/Sagar Chopda 21-15, 21-19; Bisal Das/Subhankar Dey (Thane) bt 2-Nishad Dravid/Shlok Ramchandran 21-19, 9-21, 21-18.

Women’s Doubles: Mansi Gadgil/Saee Purandare (Pune) bt Avanti Bandhe/Varada Dixit (Nagpur) 21-15, 21-15; Gauri Ghate (Mumbai)/Nupur Sahasrabudhe (Pune) bt Sonal More (Mumbai)/Vinaya Shetty (Pune) 21-19, 15-21, 21-19.