India International Challenge badminton: Priyanshu Rajawat wins second title of 2021

Priyanshu Rajawat claimed his second title of the year after he won the India International Challenge 2021 badminton tournament in Bengaluru on Sunday.

The 19-year-old Priyanshu Rajawat bounced back from a game down at the Padukone-Dravid Center for Sports Excellence to beat Raghu Mariswamy 12-21, 21-12, 21-8 in the men’s singles final. The match lasted 45 minutes.

It was world No. 211 Priyanshu Rajawat’s second career title following his Ukraine International triumph last month.

Anupama Upadhyaya, meanwhile, won her maiden title in the women's singles after the 16-year-old defeated Unnati Hooda 21-19, 21-16 in the final.

Twelfth seed Anupama was impressive in the tournament as she stunned sixth seed Riya Mookerjee in the quarter-finals. On Friday, she shocked third seed Malvika Bansod in straight games.

In the semi-final, Anupama beat unseeded Isharani Baruah to reach the final.

In the men’s doubles, Krishna Prasad and Vishnu Vardhan, who finished runners-up at the Orleans Masters in March, beat Arun George and Sanyam Shukla 24-22, 13-21, 22-20 to claim the title.

Krishna Prasad and Vishnu Vardhan were also a part of India's Thomas Cup team earlier this month.

The pair of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly won the women's doubles title after beating Tanisha Crasto and Rituparna Panda 23-21, 21-14. Gayatri is the daughter of national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand.

The mixed double crown went to Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto. They beat Gayatri and Sai Pratheek in straight games (21-16, 21-19) in the final.