Jeswin Mathew wins boys U-18 singles badminton title

Muscat: Jeswin Mathew captured the boys under-18 singles title at the ongoing Annual Badminton Tournament organised by the Indian Social Club Oman and sponsored by Pitstop Automotive services. In a thrilling final, Jeswin downed Vaishakh Nair in three hard-fought sets before claiming victory with scores of 21-13, 18-21, 21-18.
In a highly tense and competitive final, Jeswin and Vaishakh fought stroke for stroke and went ahead of each other several times.
Vaishakh shrugged off a minor deficit in the second game and rallied to win it.
The decider was also keenly contested before Jeswin held on to his nerves to claim a brilliant victory and capture the title.
Athira Venugopal will take on Mayaja Harish in the women’s singles final.
In the semi-finals, Athira downed Jessy and Mayaja prevailed over Jisha.
In the semi-finals of the mixed doubles event, the fancied duo of Himesh Haridas and Kshama scored a hard-fought 21-17, 21-8 victory over the team of Nadeem Dalwai and Durga Devi. In the final, Himesh and Kshama will take on the team of Manoj Varghese and Mayaja Harish who defeated Abdul Salam and Madhu in a three-set thriller 21-10, 16-21, 23-21.