Junior National champion Anand Pawar, son of former India doubles player Uday, claimed the Wimbledon junior (under-19) badminton title on Sunday.The 18-year-old won the prestigious tournament setting aside Scottish No 1 Callum Menzies in straight games 15-4, 15-2 at the Wimbledon Squash and Badminton Club in London.Anand, a first year Bachelor of Arts student, raised the level of his play by a few notch after fighting hard to get past England’s No. 2 junior Andrew Ellis in the semifinal. Anand won 15-6, 10-5, 15-2. The tournament is rated highly among the junior tournaments in Europe as all top and promising youngsters take part in it. The win will boost Anand’s preparations for the forthcoming World Junior Badminton Championships to be held in Vancouver in October. The other Indians in fray, however, suffered reversals. Gayatri Vartak — India’s top under-16 girl player — lost 5-11, 5-11 in the final to Linda Sloan of Scotland.
