Jaipur: All the seeded players cruised smoothly to the third round on the opening day of the RD Baheti Memorial Jaipur District Open Badminton Championship 2026 which began at the SMS Stadium Indoor Badminton Hall here on Tuesday.The week-long tournament was inaugurated by chief guests Pradeep Baheti, retired chief justice NK Jain, Ashok Baheti and Sanjay Baheti by garlanding and offering flowers to the portrait of late RD Baheti. On this occasion, NK Jain lit the lamp and formally inaugurated the competition.During the opening ceremony, guests interacted and encouraged the players. All seeded players performed well on the first day of the competition, advancing to the third round.According to the Jaipur District Badminton Association (JDBA) secretary Manoj Dasot, around 120 matches were played on the first day.In the Under-15 boys singles, Yuvraj Singh Shekhawat defeated Lakshya Khoiwal 15-7, 15-8 to enter the third round.In the Under-15 and Under-17 girls’ singles, Padmaja Singh displayed a brilliant game and sailed into the third round in both categories. She thumped Deepti Yadav 15-3, 15-3 in the U-17 singles.Meanwhile, in the Under-17 girls’ category, second seed Aaradhya Jain downed Tanishka Jain to enter the next round. In the Under-15 girls’ singles, second seed Riddhi Batra also won and reached the third round.During the inaugural ceremony, Pradeep Baheti, remembering his father, the late RD Baheti’s passion and interest in sports, announced that the RD Baheti Charitable Trust would continue to sponsor the Jaipur District Badminton Championship every year.According to JDBA secretary Manoj Dasot, the tourney was officially inaugurated by NK Jain and Pradeep Baheti by playing the first shuttle on the court.On this occasion, the JDBA patron, Rajeev Nagori welcomed the guests and presented them with mementos.Many sports lovers and dignitaries including organizing secretary Atul Gupta, Ritu Lohiya, Sanjay Bhargava, Vikas Mathur, Jagdish Khatri and Surendra Goyal were present during the inauguration.Organising secretary Atul Gupta said that on Wednesday, singles matches of Under-11, Under-15 and Under-17 boys and girls categories will be played, in which exciting competition will be seen.
