Ayush Pattnayak and Abinash Mohanty created history when they became the first-ever Odisha pair to enter mens doubles quarter-finals in the 84th Senior National Badminton Championships at Balewadi Stadium in Pune, Maharashtra on 25 February 2023.

The Odisha duo beat eighth seed Anjan Buragohain and Ranjan Buragohain (Reserve Bank of India) in the pre-quarterfinals 21-12, 21-16. But the medal hope for Ayush and Abinash proved in vain as they lost their quarterfinal contest against fourth-seeded Karnataka combination of Kushal Raj S and Prakash Raj S 20-22, 21-12 on February 26.

Ayush and Abinash were most successful among 12 shuttlers who represented Odisha in the 84th edition of the Senior National Championship. In mens doubles, other Odisha pair Amlan Keshari Garnaik and Tanmaya Kumar Sahu suffered defeat in the first round.

In mens singles, Paras Mathur (Odisha) won his first-round match against Vipul Saini (J&K) 21-16, 22-20, but lost in the next round against Sai Praneet B (PET) 12-21, 7-21. Swadhin Gouda (Odisha) also made a winning start, defeating Ritesh Kumar (Bihar) 21-14, 21-7 in his opening match, but only to be eliminated in the second round by Chirag Seth (UP) who won 21-18, 21-10.

In womens singles, Swagatika Rout (Odisha) lost to Unnati Bisht (Uttarakhand) in the first round 4-21, 6-21. Sruti Swain lost to Divyanshi Sharma (Uttarakhand) in the first round 21-17, 12-21, 9-21.

Odisha international Rutaparna Panda and her younger sister Swetaparna, who were seeded fifth, got a bye in the first round before going down to experienced pair of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa 14-21, 11-21 in second round.

Anuja Das Mohapatra and Purba Pratyasha Panda, another Odisha pair in womens doubes fray, made first-round exit, losing to Mizoram opponents Lalthazuali Abigail and Lalrempuii 14-21, 19-21.

In mixed doubles, Abinash Mohanty and Anuja Das Mohapatra (Odisha) beat Kusal Lama and Selina Rai (Sikkim) 21-9, 21-11 in the first round and lost to Sohail Ahmed and Rageshri Garg (Uttarakhand) in the next match 19-21, 19-21.
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PHOTO: Ayush Pattnayak (Left) and Abinash Mohanty express happiness after becoming the first-ever Odisha pair to enter mens doubles quarter-finals at the Senior National Badminton Championship in Pune on 25 February 2023.