Ramanarajan Powers Shell Through Fierce Competition at HSWC Challenge
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Badiwars 5.0 – Tournament 2 Report
📍 Leo Sports | May 9
The second stop of the Badiwars 5.0 season — the HSWC Corporate Challenge — brought together some of the strongest corporate badminton players in Bengaluru for a high-intensity day of competition at Leo Sports.
From major upsets to breakthrough performances, the tournament delivered drama across every category. For Shell, it was a tournament filled with grit, consistency, and multiple podium finishes, led by veteran campaigner Ramanarajan B and the ever-reliable Shatakshi Shree.
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🏸 MEN’S SINGLES
The Men’s Singles category saw several seeded players fall early as unseeded challengers took over the draw.
Shell’s Shashin Yadav opened strongly with a commanding 21-11, 21-13 victory over ETC’s Yashwanth KS in the Round of 32. However, his run ended in the Round of 16 against top seed Vivek Kumar from Brigade Group.
The category eventually turned into a battlefield of upsets. Suryansh Jaiswal stunned top seed Vivek Kumar in the quarterfinals after already eliminating 8th seed Ravi Dewangan earlier in the day. Meanwhile, Bluebird’s MANOJKUMAR PALANISAMY took down 2nd seed Abhijot Singh in a thriller.
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🏸 WOMEN’S SINGLES
Shell’s Shatakshi Shree once again showcased why she remains one of the strongest women’s singles players in the circuit.
After receiving a bye into the semifinals, she fought back from a game down to defeat Sanchita Yadav of Accenture in a gritty three-game battle. Her finals clash against Mahalakshmi M, however, proved difficult as the Abstream Technologies player controlled the match from start to finish.
Despite the loss, Shatakshi secured another podium finish for Shell and strengthened her standing in the Badiwars season rankings.
🥈 Runner Up: Shatakshi Shree
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🏸 MEN’S DOUBLES
Shell fielded three combinations in Men’s Doubles, with all pairs reaching the quarterfinal stage.
Asish Kumar Sahu and Barun Sharma began confidently with a straight-game win over Checkpoint Software before falling to the top-seeded Dell pair of Abhijot Singh and Rajat Singh.
Rohit Rajan and Naamin Phaisal pushed the eventual champions Gaurav Ajila and Parikshith Shetty to three games in one of the closest matches of the category, narrowly missing out after taking the opening game.
Meanwhile, Shubhasis Mishra and Shashin Yadav also bowed out in the quarterfinals against the seeded pairing of Tarun Kumar Penta and MD Taj Nawaz.
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🏸 WOMEN’S DOUBLES
Dhanya Nair and Sonal Jena delivered one of Shell’s strongest performances of the tournament.
The second-seeded duo stormed into the finals after a dominant 21-9, 21-8 semifinal win over Dell’s Nikita Varshney and Charuseela. Their aggressive attacking play and sharp coordination stood out throughout the event.
In the finals, however, the experienced combination of Shruthi Raveendran and Sameena Ajeeth proved too solid, denying Shell the title.
Still, the runner-up finish added another important medal to Shell’s campaign.
🥈 Runner Up: Dhanya Nair / Sonal Jena
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🏸 MIXED DOUBLES
One of Shell’s biggest highlights came in Mixed Doubles through Rohit Rajan and Shatakshi Shree.
The unseeded pair stunned the third-seeded GSK combination of Sakshi Nautiyal and Arun Kumar in straight games in the quarterfinals. Their chemistry and fast-paced attacking game continued in the semifinals as they defeated Dell’s Ayush Vishwanathan and Charuseela to book a place in the finals.
Awaiting them were the top seeds — Vivek Kumar and Shruthi Raveendran — who ultimately proved too experienced in the title clash.
Even so, the finals run marked one of the standout performances of the tournament for Shell.
🥈 Runner Up: Rohit Rajan / Shatakshi Shree
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🏸 35+ MEN’S SINGLES
If there was one player who truly embodied Shell’s fighting spirit at the HSWC Corporate Challenge, it was Ramanarajan B.
Seeded second in the draw, Ramanarajan looked composed from the start. He dispatched Samsung’s Nishant Dwivedi comfortably in the quarterfinals before producing one of the most dominant semifinal performances of the day against Pegasus Mortgage’s Ravi Dewangan.
In the finals, he faced Sharath Prakash of MUFG in a high-quality three-game battle. Ramanarajan took the opening game and looked on course for the title before Sharath fought back to win the next two.
Despite the heartbreaking finish, Ramanarajan’s consistency, composure, and leadership stood out as one of the defining stories of Tournament 2.
🥈 Runner Up: Ramanarajan B
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🏸 35+ MEN’S DOUBLES
Shell once again had a strong showing in the veterans doubles category.
Top seeds Barun Sharma and Ramanarajan B survived a tough quarterfinal battle against Dell before their run ended in the semifinals against eventual champions Rejith Kumar and Parikshith Shetty.
Asish Kumar Sahu and Shubhasis Mishra also reached the quarterfinal stage but were unable to progress further.
🥉 Semifinalists: Barun Sharma / Ramanarajan B
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📊 SHELL TOURNAMENT SUMMARY
Shell ended Tournament 2 with multiple podium finishes across categories and valuable ranking points heading deeper into the Badiwars 5.0 season.
Leading the way was Ramanarajan B with finals appearances in 35+ Men’s Singles and a semifinal finish in 35+ Men’s Doubles. Shatakshi Shree also delivered a stellar campaign with runner-up finishes in Women’s Singles and Mixed Doubles.
With strong depth across categories and multiple players consistently reaching knockout stages, Shell once again established itself as one of the strongest teams of the HSWC Corporate Challenge.
🏅 Shell Medal Tally
🥈 Silver – 4
🥉 Bronze – 1