Air India triumph at national badminton tourney

Guwahati, Dec. 13 (IANS): Air India lived up to their top billing, beating Assam 3-1 to lift the mixed team crown of the 42nd Inter State-Inter Zonal Badminton Championships 2017 here on Wednesday. Top seeds Air India got off to a flying start with Rahul Bharadwaj beating Orijit Chaliha 21-14, 21-12 in 69 minutes. But Ashmita Chaliha got Assam's campaign back on track and restored parity with a 21-19, 24-22 victory over Purva Barve. However, the hosts could not maintain the momentum and conceded the next one after the boys' doubles team of Abhishek Borah and Rajsekhar Das went down 19-21, 17-21 to the pair of Rahul and Aryaman Tandon. With Air India leading 2-1, Prashi Joshi and Mithula U.K beat Isharani Baruah and Chimram Kalita 21-19, 21-13 in the women's double competition to seal the tie and lift the championship.