Shuttler Nikkita forced to give walkover in mixed doubles final

Nagpur, July 4

Even after Maharashtra Badminton Association (MBA) chief Arun Lakhani and the organisers assured to reschedule the Maharashtra State Under-19 Badminton Tournament at Aurangabad, city's talented badminton player Nikkita Joseph had to give walkover to the opponents in the mixed doubles final on Monday.

In the semis played on Monday afternoon, Nikkita and partner Dhruv Thakore defeated Sarangh Gajbhiye-Anamika Singh 21-15, 21-17. In another semi-final Arya Thakore-Mehak Nayak beat Prathmesh Kulkarni-Sonali Mirkhelkar 21-19 21-14.

As Nikkita and Dhruv had to go Panchkula (Haryana) for All India Under-19 Ranking Tournament on Tuesday, they requested the tournament's chief referee to schedule the match for Monday evening. Surprisingly, the referee turned down the request and scheduled the match on Tuesday motning. It forced Nikkita and her partner to skip the final and cede the match to opponents.

Lokmat Times had already highlighted the issue of back-to-back tournaments and its scheduling in June 21 issue. The parents and players had requested MBA to end all the matches by July 4 evening so they can catch their train/flight on July 5 to go to Panchkula. Some parents had also sent mail to MBA chief Arun Lakhani.

Lakhani took cognizance of LT report and asked local organisers to finish matches on July 4. The organisers also promised to do it so the players going for All-India ranking tournament do not face difficulty. They completed the boys and girls doubles final on Monday but scheduled singles and mixed doubles final on Tuesday morning. It is not understood why the referee did not schedule the remaining finals on Monday evening when all players were ready to play.

A senior badminton coach told LT, “It is very unfortunate that the two had to give walkover in the final after doing all the hard work. When the players and parents had already requested the MBA to finish the matches on July 4, why the referee did not schedule the match?”

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'Players refused to play'

The president of Aurangabad District Badminton Association Shirish Boralkar said, “We were ready to hold the final on Monday evening but some players were not ready as they had played a number of back to back matches. Bad luck for Nikkita. I personally asked Nikkita to play the final on Tuesday morning but she refused. We can't do anything if the players are not ready to play.”