NAGPUR: A day after city's Ritika Thaker steered Maharashtra to the final, the confident women shuttlers stunned experienced Airports Authority of India (AAI) 3-0 and emerged as the national team champions in the 76th inter-state badminton championship at Guwahati on Tuesday.
In what ended as a lop-sided summit clash, Shruti Mundada gave Maharashtra a flying start when she caused the biggest upset of the championship by toppling Tanya Hemanth in a thrilling opening singles match that lasted for an hour and 23 minutes. Shruti surprised Tanya 23-21, 23-25, 21-18. The second singles match too was an intense battle where Maharashtra's Alisha Naik got the better of Mansi Singh 21-18, 12-21, 21-19 in an exciting 46-minute clash.
With a handy 2-0 lead, it was a mere formality for Maharashtra's best doubles pair of Ritika and Simran. They took just 42 minutes to ensure Maharashtra's position on top of the podium by outplaying Tanya and Priya Devi Konjengbam in straight games 21-14, 21-18.
Ritika was elated after the triumph, she said, "I am very happy with my, and our team's performance. With every passing match we have found our rhythm and made the final into a one-sided contest. Both our singles players made our task simple, and we were able to play with a free mind to help Maharashtra claim the national title."
Later, in the men's team championship final, AAI defeated Karnataka 3-0.
