Sairaj enters second round

The week-long tournament is being organised by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) at the Navi Mumbai Sports Association Hall, Vashi.

In the U-13 boys singles first round, Sairaj Nayse rallied back superbly to beat qualifier Aarush Pawaskar of Goa 21-23, 21-15, 21-13.

Sairaj, a student of Narayana Vidyalayam, lost the opening game narrowly but staged a brilliant comeback to win the next two games quite easily.

India No. 15 Sairaj will now take on second seed Riyan Malhan of Delhi on Friday.

Sairaj, who trains under Kunal Dasarwar, will play the U-13 boys doubles first round later in the evening with his partner Aarav Thakre. City's another talented shuttler Fizza Akbani also moved up in the girls section.