National Games: Telangana's M Tharun lifts men’s singles gold in badminton, Gouse Shaikh, D Pooja clinch mixed doubles gold

GOA: Telangana’s M Tharun overpowered the experienced Sourabh Varma with his smashes in the men’s singles final while Andhra Pradesh’s D Pooja and Gouse Shaikh took home the mixed doubles gold medal in the morning session of the badminton competition in the ongoing 37th National Games on Tuesday.

Tharun, who had upset second seed and national champion M Mithun in the semi-final, got the better of Varma 21-15, 16-21, 21-15 in an hour and 10 minutes to bag his first National Games gold at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stadium in Goa. The fourth seed adopted an aggressive approach from the opening game itself and went for his big smashes. That game plan worked as he opened up a 12-8 lead.

Varma did manage to close the gap at 16-15, but Tharun bagged the next five points to close the game. The experienced Varma then changed strategy and began engaging his opponent in flatter rallies.

This allowed him to take control of the proceedings and force a decider. However, Tharun was prepared for this game plan in the final game and changed ends leading 11-5. Knowing that his senior opponent was under pressure, Tharun stuck to his game plan and induced errors from Varma to win the title.

“My plan was simply to play to my strength and keep pressure on Sourabh. I am happy that it worked perfectly today,” said Tharun after the match.

Earlier, Pooja and Shaikh clinched Andhra Pradesh’s first gold medal of the Games with a convincing 21-8, 21-17 victory over top seeds Navaneeth Bokka and K Maneesha of Telangana.

So far, a total of six gold medals have been decided in Games, with Telangana, Karnataka, Assam, West Bengal, Services and Andhra Pradesh shared one yellow metal each.

Elsewhere in Navelim, Services Sports Control Board and Tamil Nadu sealed their spot in the men’s basketball 5x5 semifinal from Pool B after winning both their matches. In the morning session, Services defeated Rajasthan 81-60 while Tamil Nadu got the better of Kerala 82-46.

In the women’s section, Maharashtra kept their hopes of qualifying for the semifinals with a 77-48 victory over Delhi in Pool B. they had lost to Tamil Nadu in their opening match on Monday.

In another match, Karnataka defeated Tamil Nadu 69-51. In the netball arena, Haryana men would take on Delhi while Jammu and Kashmir face Kerala in the semifinals.

Important Results

Badminton (Finals):

Men’s Singles: 4-M Tharun (Tel) bt Sourabh Varma (MP) 21-15, 16-21, 21-15

Mixed doubles:

Gouse Shaikh/D Pooja (AP) bt 1-Navaneeth Bokka/K Maneesha (Tel) 21-8, 21-17.

Basketball

Men

Pool B: Tamil Nadu bt Kerala 82-46; Services bt Rajasthan 81-60

Women

Pool B: Maharashtra bt Delhi 77-48; Karnataka bt Tamil Nadu 69-51

Netball

Women:

Pool A: Himachal Pradesh bt Telangana 38-36