Athira crowned ISC women's champion

Muscat: Athira Venugopal claimed the women's singles crown at the ISC Annual Badminton Tournament sponsored by Pitstop Automotive Services.
In a thrilling final, Athira, a former junior girls winner at the club, turned back the clock and put in a brilliant rearguard action to defeat Mayaja Harish 19-21, 21-6, 21-6. After a well-contested first game which Mayaja won, Athira played with more purpose and scored winners at will to win the next two games and the title.
Nowfal defeated Vaishakh Nair in the semi-final of the men's-A Singles 21-13, 21-15 and will take on Jeswin Mathew in the final. In the second semi-final, Jeswin defeated Milind Naithani 21-5, 21-7.
Percy Pereira advanced to the final of the veterans singles after defeating Manoj Varghese 21-16, 21-12 in the semi-final. In the other semi-final, Ganesh overcame Vinod Kumar 21-8, 21-6. The team of Aaron Aju and Nitin defeated the duo of Rajesh and Mony 22-0, 17-21, 21-10 to advance to the final of the men's-A doubles event. In the final, they will clash against Abin Ose and Nowfal who notched up a thrilling three-set victory over the fancied pair of Vaishakh Nair and Jeswin Mathew 21-17, 11-21, 21-19 in the semi-final.