Badminton Asia C'ships: Shaina, Diksha win gold as India finish with best ever medal haul

Chengdu: India recorded its best-ever showing at the Badminton Asia U17 & U15 Championships as Shaina Manimuthu and Diksha Sudhakar clinched gold medals in their respective categories here on Sunday.

In the U15 girls' singles final, Shaina overcame Japan's Chiharu Tomita 21-14, 22-20, while Diksha outclassed compatriot Lakshya Rajesh 21-16, 21-9 to take the U17 girls' singles crown.

With Sunday's triumphs, the Indian contingent wrapped up the continental event with two gold, one silver and two bronze medals - its best-ever haul at the championships


The last time India secured two gold medals was in 2013 when Siril Verma won the U15 boys' singles title and Chirag Shetty and MR Arjun claimed the U17 boys' doubles crown.

On Sunday, Shaina became the fourth Indian girls singles player to clinch the U15 crown as she dominated Tomita in the opening game and then staved off a late challenge in the second game to close out the match in 44 minutes.

Later, Diksha became the first Indian girls singles player to win the U17 title, dominating the 27-minute all-Indian final.

Jagsher Singh Khanggura and mixed doubles combination of Jangjeet Singh Kajla and Jananika Ramesh had bagged bronze on Saturday.