Nagpur: Star badminton player Ritika Thaker of Nagpur and her Delhi partner Nitin Kumar made their presence felt by storming into the quarter-finals at the Telangana International Challenge underway at the Balayogi Stadium in Hyderabad, on Thursday.
Ritika and Nitin faced a tough challenge in the first round from Dingku Singh and Priya Konjenbum. Ritika and Nitin wrapped up the first game at 21- 17, they let their guard down in the second game and lost 13-21. In the decider they played with confidence and aggression to wrap up the decider 21-16.
Gold Rate
07 Oct 2025
In the pre-quarters, they faced 7th seeds Arsh Mohammad and Vaishnavi Khadkekar. Playing with a plan and executing it well, they won the first game 21-15 after Ritika-Nitin were trailing 9- 11 at the interval. In the second game, Ritika andNitin were trailing 10-11 by just one point at the interval in the neck and neck match. Ritika and Nitin produced some super stroke play at crucial points which enabled them clinch the game and the match.
In the quarters, they now face top seeds Ashit Sury and Amrutha Pramutesh for a place in the semi-finals. Ritika trains at Arundhati Arun Badminton Academy at Besa Nagpur, under the watchful eyes of Arun Vishnu.
