Young Indian shuttlers Vansh Dev–Shravani Walekar and Aanya Bisht–Angel Punera secured the mixed and women’s doubles titles, respectively, at the India Junior International Grand Prix 2025 badminton tournament in Pune on Sunday.
In an all-Indian mixed doubles final at the P. E. Society’s Modern PDMBA Sports Complex, the unseeded duo Vansh Dev and Shravani Walekar produced a commanding display to defeat second seeds C Lalramsanga and Taarini Suri 21-12, 21-13.
The pair sealed the gold medal in just 28 minutes.
In the U-19 women’s doubles, another unseeded Indian pair, Aanya Bisht and Angel Punera, fought back in style to overcome Japan’s fifth seeds Aoi Banno and Yuzu Ueno 21-23, 21-12, 21-17.
After conceding the opening game, the Indian badminton players duo bounced back with a dominant win in the second before holding their nerve in a tense decider to secure the gold medal in a thrilling 70-minute battle.
Kazuma Kawano of Japan claimed a memorable double crown, winning the U-19 men’s singles title and the men’s doubles gold.
In the all-Japanese singles final, ninth-seeded Kazuma Kawano upset second-seeded Hyuga Takano 23-21, 18-21, 25-23 in a match that lasted an hour and nine minutes.
Meanwhile, Yuzuno Watanabe managed to edge out 10th-seeded Yurika Nagafuchi 16-21, 21-13, 21-17 to win the U-19 women’s singles title.
In the U-19 men’s doubles, Kazuma Kawano teamed up with Shuji Sawada to get past another Japanese pair of Shunsei Nemoto and Nagi Yoshitsugu 21-15, 21-18.
Indian shuttlers concluded the badminton tournament with two gold, one silver and four bronze medals.
India’s Bornil Aakash Changmai and Zenith Abbigail had also lost in the semi-finals of the mixed doubles on Saturday.