BENGALURU: Over the past six months, Shaina Manimuthu participated in various domestic tournaments across India to refine her skills and enhance her performance as a player. The rigorous schedule resulted in ankle pain for the Karnataka shuttler, which she carried into the Badminton Asia U-17 and U-15 Championships in Chengdu, China. Determined to improve upon her pre-quarterfinal exit last year, the teenager worked towards it.Shaina’s perseverance paid off as the top-seeded player lost only one game during the competition and clinched the U-15 girls’ singles title on Sunday. She secured a 21-14, 22-20 victory over Japan’s Chiharu Tomita in the final.Subsequently, Tamil Nadu’s Diksha Sudhakar, seeded sixth, won another gold medal by defeating Karnataka’s Lakshya Rajesh 21-16, 21-9 in the all-India U-17 girls’ title contest. India concluded the campaign with two gold medals, one silver, and two bronze medals, marking the country’s best-ever performance at the event.The U-17 final saw Diksha outplay Lakshya in a 27-minute contest, dominating from the start against her opponent.
Shaina Manimuthu, Diksha Sudhakar bag Asian junior titles | Badminton News – The Times of India
