Indian sports wrap, December 28: Surya Charishma, Ritvik win singles titles at Senior Badminton Nationals
BADMINTON
Senior Nationals: Surya Charishma, Ritvik clinch singles titles
Surya Charishma Tamiri rode on strong local support to register a come-from-behind win over Tanvi Patri, while Ritvik Sanjeevi S defeated Bharat Raghav to clinch the women’s and men’s singles titles, respectively, in the Senior National Badminton Championships on Sunday.
The 19-year-old Vijayawada-born Surya Charishma got the better of Tanvi 17-21, 21-12, 21-14 in the women’s singles final, while Rithvik defeated Bharat 21-16, 22-20 in the men’s singles summit clash.
The much-anticipated women’s singles final between the local favourite and a player attempting to become the youngest senior national champion lived up to its billing, as both players had their chances in the 58-minute encounter.
Tanvi took control of the match at the midway stage of the opening game, and it looked like she had frustrated her opponent enough to induce unforced errors.
One such error happened at 6-5 in the second game as Surya Charishma swatted a service return in the net. But the service judge had called it a fault for height, and that gave the eventual champion a reprieve. She then went on to win seven consecutive points to take control of the second game.
In the decider, Surya Charishma engaged Tanvi in long rallies at the start, and the tiredness began to show on the youngster.
Though Tanvi tried to keep pace with her opponent, she clearly ran out of steam as Surya Charishma wrapped up the match with six straight points from 15-14 onwards.
In the men’s singles final, Rithvik relied on his superior defence and composure to overcome the challenge of Bharat Raghav.
Having pocketed the opening game without any hiccups, Rithvik was under pressure in the second game as his opponent opened up a 9-5 lead.
The 2024 Odisha Masters winner bagged six consecutive points to regain the lead, and it felt like he would cruise to victory before two bad judgement calls allowed Bharat to fight back and even earn a game point.
But to his credit, Rithvik kept his cool and stuck to his game plan and wrapped up the match in 39 minutes.
Rajanikanth, head coach of the Hatsun Badminton Centre, where Rithvik trains, said, “Rithvik stayed disciplined across matches and handled critical points well. His movement and recovery were sharper through the later rounds. This title reflects steady preparation and execution.”
The experienced combination of Shikha Gautam and Ashwini Bhat K clinched the women’s doubles crown, beating second seeds Priya Devi Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra 21-14, 21-18, while top seeds Hariharan Amsakarunan and R. Ruban Kumar defeated Mithileish P. Krishnan and Prejan 21-17, 21-12 to win the men’s doubles final.
Earlier, second seeds Sathwik Reddy K and Radhika Sharma upset top seeds Ashith Surya and Amrutha P 21-9, 21-15 to clinch the mixed doubles title.
-Team Sportstar
GOLF
Yuvraj Sandhu wins TATA Open, his record seventh title in 2025
Yuvraj Sandhu on Sunday set a new record for most titles in a single season on the PGTI with his seventh win after a one-stroke triumph at the TATA Open 2025 golf tournament.
The 28-year-old Sandhu (67-64-68-65), the overnight joint leader, shot a final round six-under 65, highlighted by his match-winning birdie on the last hole, to total 20-under 264 for the week at the ₹2 crore event, the PGTI’s season finale, at the Beldih and Golmuri Golf Courses.
Chandigarh-based Sandhu had already secured the 2025 PGTI Order of Merit crown following his sixth victory of the season two weeks back. With that title in Delhi, Sandhu had equalled the previous record of six wins in a season held by Manu Gandas since 2022.
He has earned his card for the DP World Tour for 2026 by virtue of topping the PGTI Ranking.
Twenty-one-year-old Shubham Jaglan (68-66-65-66), the overnight joint leader along with Sandhu, came up with a bogey-free five-under 66 in round four to total 19-under 265 for the week and register his second runner-up finish on the PGTI in only his third appearance on the tour.
Khalin Joshi (66) and Veer Ahlawat (66) finished tied third at totals of 14-under 270.
Sandhu picked up the winning cheque worth ₹30 lakh to take his season’s earnings to a whopping ₹1,91,67,100, thus smashing the previous record for season’s earnings on the PGTI, set at ₹1,56,35,724 by Veer Ahlawat in 2024.
“I was determined to end the season with a good performance, and I’m glad that I managed to achieve that today. Hats off to Shubham for competing hard and pushing me till the end. He played really well and is destined for bigger things,” Sandhu said.
-Press Trust of India
Published on Dec 28, 2025