IT WAS a silver lining for Nagpur’s pride Ritika Thaker and her Hyderabad partner Navaneeth Bokka when they finished second best at Bangladesh International Challenge 2024 in Dhaka. They were up against the seasoned Singapore pair of Hee Yong Terry and Jin YU Jia, where Hee Yong had played Paris Olympics 2024and Asiad Game in China in 24. The Indians gave their best but could noy match their opponents and fell short, the score reading 14-21, 16-21. Speaking after the final,

 

Ritika said they did a few crucial mistakes which costed them the match. In both the games they were neck and neck, but a few mistake by them gave advantage to the opponents and they converted them, she said they were leading in the first half of the first game. She elaborated, “we need to reduce our mistakes which will help us a lot to improve our game. Going back to Hyderabad we will plan the same with our coaches.” They were happy with the silver but gold would have made them happier. She said, “she is very thankful to Suchitra Academy, Pradeep Raju, all coaches, also Ajay Dayal and Ajay Dayal Badminton Academy, NDBA and MBA for their support and most important her family who always stood by her.