Indian sports wrap, December 22: Top seed Anvisha loses in Jr. State Badminton Championship final; NSCC gold for Kiran Ankush Jadhav

BADMINTON

Junior State Badminton Championship: Tiann upsets top seed for title Anvisha; Padwal bags a double

The big match temperament of third seed Tiann Castellino was once again on display against top seed Anvisha Ghorpade, as she scored an upset win in three games to lift the Girls U-15 singles title in the Junior State Badminton Championships at the Bombay Gymkhana late on Sunday.

The young shuttlers were cheered on by a star-studded crowd, among them close friends of the late Gauram Thakkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Shyam Bhatia, Khalid Ansari, and Aparna Popat, to name a few.

After losing the first game 17-2,Tiann made a strong comeback in the closely-fought second. With Anvisha trying to close out the match and Tiann hanging on to stay in contention, the game saw long rallies and some clever moves at the net, but it was Tiann who kept her nerves in the final stages to close out the game 22-20. Tiann then won the decider relatively easily to emerge a 17-21, 22-20-21-14 winner.

Boys U-15 top seed Aditya Padwal also had a scare against Chandranshu Gundle when he dropped the second game, but that proved a temporary setback as he collected his wits to win the decider and close out the match 21-17, 15-21, 21-15. Padwal bagged a creditable double when he partnered with Gundle to defeat Sairaj Samant and Sumedh Surve 16-21, 21-10, 21-12.

There was also an upset in the Girls U-13 final, with second seed Riddhi Khopkar getting the better of top seed Spruha Jpshi 21-15, 12-21, 22-20.

-Team Sportstar

SHOOTING

Kiran Ankush Jadhav claims 10m air rifle gold at NSCC 2025-26

(L–R): Arjun Babuta, Kiran Ankush Jadhav, and Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar—the podium finishers of the men’s 10m air rifle at the 68th NSCC.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Navy’s Kiran Ankush Jadhav produced a composed and consistent performance to clinch the gold medal in men’s 10m air rifle during the 68th National Shooting Championship Competitions (NSCC) at the MP State Shooting Academy.

Jadhav finished with 252.1, holding off Olympian Arjun Babuta, who secured silver with 251.4, while reigning 50m Rifle 3 Positions national champion Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar completed the podium with 229.8.

Arjun’s Railways teammate Shahu Tushar Mane finished fourth with 209.3, followed by Himanshu (181.1), Ramayana Tomer (166.7), Onkar Vikas Waghamare (145.4), and Pradeep Singh (123.3).

In the junior men’s 10m air rifle, Gujarat’s Mohammed Murtaza Vania delivered an authoritative display to secure the gold medal with 254.3. Abhinav Shaw of West Bengal claimed the silver with 251.6, while Waghamare finished third with 230.1 to earn the bronze medal. 

Naraen Pranav of Karnataka finished fourth with 209, following a shoot-off with Waghamare. Divyanshu Shailendra Dewangan (187.5) and Parth Mane (166.9) placed fifth and sixth, respectively, the latter also bowing out after a shoot-off. Uma Mahesh Maddineni (145.3) and Himanshu (123) completed the finalists.

Waghamare went one better in the youth division, striking gold with 250. He built a decisive advantage in the closing shots to finish just 0.3 ahead of his state teammate Naraen Pranav, who took silver, while Shakthivel Senthivel of Tamil Nadu won the bronze medal with 229.5.

Parth (208.2) finished fourth, followed by Shaw (187.3) and Pritam Kendre (166.4), who exited after a shoot-off. Abishek Sekhar (145.2) and Ritesh Ravindra Ghule (123.1) were the other finalists.

The action continues in Bhopal on Tuesday with the 10m air rifle mixed team event.

-Team Sportstar

Published on Dec 22, 2025