Senior Nationals: M Raghu, Devika Sihag clinch singles title

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], December 24 : Karnataka's M Raghu saved three match points in the decider to defeat former champion Mithun Manjunath and clinch the men's singles title, while Haryana's Devika Sihag ended the giant-killing run of Shriyanshi Valishetty to win the women's singles crown at the Yonex-Sunrise 86th Senior Nationals badminton championships here on Tuesday.
Raghu, who had upset top seed Sathish Kumar in the semi-finals, triumphed over Mithun 14-21, 21-14, 24-22 in just under an hour to secure his maiden national title, while Devika defeated Shriyanshi 21-15, 21-16.
Junior National Champions Arsh Mohammad and Sanskar Saraswat added the senior nationals title to their collection by upsetting top seeds Naveen P and Lokesh V 12-21, 21-12, 19-21 in the men's doubles final.
Ayush Agarwal and Shruti Mishra claimed the mixed doubles crown, while Arathi Sara Sunil and Varshini VS won the women's doubles final. The men's singles final provided the grand finale to the senior nationals at the Karnataka Badminton Association courts, as two players from the state faced off.
Mithun, who won the title two editions ago, started strong, clinching the opening game with ease.
Raghu forced a decider by racing through the second game. His control during the net exchanges made the difference as he fought back from 15-19 to level the score at 19-19. Although Mithun earned three match points, he was unable to convert any of them.
In the women's singles final, Devika quickly took control of the match tempo and maintained her dominance to win in straight games.