Naishaa Kaur Bhatoye reigns supreme in France-hosted badminton tournament

Naishaa Kaur Bhatoye with her U-19 trophy in France last Sunday

After her first U-17 title in France last month, city shuttler Naishaa Kaur Bhatoye, 15, continued her winning streak to emerge victorious at the BWF 3 Borders U-19 tournament in Saint Louis, France, last Sunday.

She had won the April 20-22 France U-17 Open in Aire sur la Lys.

In the U-19 final, Naishaa beat Leila Zarrouk of Switzerland 21-14, 21-12. En route, she beat third seed Floriane Nurit of France 21-16, 21-17 in the semi-finals, registered a 21-12, 21-17 win over Azkya Aliefa Ruhanda (Switzerland) in the quarter-finals and beat Switzerland's Lina Schadegg 21-11, 21-4 in the Round of 16.

Talking about the U-19 title in France, Naishaa told www.mid-day.com: "The past two months have been crazy but rewarding at the same time. I won my first U-17 title in April and now my first U-19 title in May. I couldn't have asked for more. The travel schedule was very hectic for me, but I have no regrets."

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Naishaa trains at the Jitesh Padukone Shuttlers' Academy at North Indian Association, Sion, in Mumbai and at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy (PGBA) in Hyderabad. She aims to maintain her current ranking of World No. 36 in the U-19 category. "This year is going to be the toughest, as I am in Class 10. I will have to juggle between playing and my studies. I am aware that I may have to skip many tournaments. At the same time, I don't want my ranking to go down. I want to break into the Top 20 (U-19 category) by the end of this year," signed off Naishaa, who will be playing two All India U-17 tournaments in Haryana and Lucknow shortly.