Senior Nationals: Rithvik Sanjeevi sends defending champion Chirag Sen packing in third round

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], December 21 (ANI): Rithvik Sanjeevi S fought back from a game down to pack off defending champion and sixth seed Chirag Sen in the third round of the 86th Senior Nationals Badminton tournament here on Saturday.
The Tamil Nadu shuttler looked in trouble after losing the opening game against Sen but bounced back to win 12-21, 21-19, 21-15 and will now take on Raghu M on Sunday for a place in the quarterfinals, as per a press release from the Badminton Association of India (BAI) Media.
There were no such surprises in the women's singles section as defending champion Anmol Kharb and last edition runners-up Tanvi Sharma washed into the round of 16. Anmol defeated Krishika Mahajan 21-14, 21-14 while Tanvi packed off Swati Solanki 21-12, 21-8 in the third round.
While most of the title contenders stayed on course in the women's singles category, the men's singles event saw fourth seed Bhargav S, fifth seed Saneeth DS and ninth seed Ravi biting the dust.
Raj Singh upset Bhargav 21-11, 21-13 while Manish Phogat got the better of Ravi 14-21, 21-14, 21-18.
In the last match of the day, Rounak Chauhan ended Saneeth's campaign with a 21-11, 21-16 victory.
In the doubles categories, it was a win of experience over youth in women's doubles with Kanika Kanwal and Bharti Pal teaming together to upset sixth seeds Amrutha P and Radhika Sharma 25-23, 21-17.
Earlier in the day, Rujula Ramu had upset 10th seed Surya Charishma Tamiri 21-19, 19-21, 21-17 while Jiya Rawat came from a game behind to beat 9th seed Shruti Mundada 25-27, 21-14, 21-10 in the second round. (ANI)