Shaurya, Sairaj help Narayana reach CBSE South Zone final

The four-day annual tournament is being organised by The Oxford School, Trivandrum, under the auspices of Kerala Badminton Association.

Narayana Vidyalayam Under-14 boys team edged past The Choice School, Kochi 2-1 in an exciting semifinal to seal place in Friday's summit clash.

Shaurya Kumar trounced Abhishek 15-8, 15-6 in the first singles. However, Shaurya and Sairaj Nayse lost the doubles 14-15, 14-15. In the third and deciding match, Sairaj Nayse defeated Adesh 15-14, 15-6 to clinch the tie 2-1 in favour of Narayana Vidyalayam. Earlier in the quarters, Narayana Vidyalayam thumped St Thomas School, Trivandrum 2-0. In the final, Narayana Vidyalayam will take on Delhi Public School Bangalore South. DPS beat Jain Heritage School, Belagavi in the other semis.

Narayana Vidyalayam's U-17 boys team also did well but lost 0-2 against Reliance Foundation School in the pre-quarterfinals. Shriram Rao, Sharvil Deshmukh and Nakul Deshmukh were the members of the U-17 team. Sports teacher Jagdish Wankhede is accompanying Narayana Vidyalayam badminton squad.

CBSE teams from Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa and hosts Kerala are participating in the tournament being played in three categories -- U-14, U-17 and U-19.