CITY shuttler Ritika Thaker stormed into the summit clash at the ongoing Yonex All India Senior RankingTournament at the Jwala Gutta Academy, Hyderabad. Nagpur’s doubles specialist Ritika paired up with Nitin KumarofDelhi for the first time and marked her stamp of authority by making it to the final thus announcing her arrival with a new partner. In the Round of 32, Ritika and Nitin beat Rishi V and DharunigaSin straight games with the scores reading 21-7, 21-12. In the Round of 16, they faced Ayush Makhija and Diksha Choudhary who are regular partners since a long time. After wining the first game 21- 10, Ritika-Nitin lost a closely fought second game at 20-22. Making amends to their game in the decider, they played attacking badminton to easily win 21-13 and wrap up the match.

 

In the quarter-finals,Ritika-Nitin were up against Maharashtra pair and third seeds Deep Rambhiya and Sonali Mirkhelkar. Ritika-Nitin lost the first game 15-21 but changed their game and plan, to win theother two tough games and the match with the scores 21-19 and 22-20. The excitingmatchlasted for an hour and five minutes. Inthe semis, they faced qualifiers and giant killers Dhileepan V andPranaviN who had upset two seeded pairs on their way to the semis. Ritika and Nitin planned an almost flawless game and executed well to win in straight games to reach the final. The semis score read 21-19, 21- 18. In the final, they take on top seeds Sathwik Reddy andRadhikaSharma.Speaking on theoccasion, Ritika said she is happy with their performance in the very first tournament with Nitin Kumar adding that they will give their best in the final. Ritika trainsunderArunVishnu at the Arundhati Arun Badminton Academy in Nagpur. She thanks her parents, coach Arun Vishnu for the guidance and support.She also thanks Nitin’scoach Utkarsh Arora who is with them in the tournament.