Guwahati/Itanagar, June 15: Hirakjyoti Neog of Assam emerged the under-19 national champion and Arunachal Pradesh shuttler Laa Talar won the gold in the under-16 age group of the 7th Indian Oil Servo RSC all-India Junior Ranking Badminton tournament held in Kochi on the first week of June.

In the under-19 final played at Kochi on June 7, Hirakjyoti Neog defeated topseed Prakash Jolly of Karnataka 21-15, 21-17 for the crown.

It was for the first time that Assam was represented in the under-19 age group in a junior national-ranking tournament, Assam Badminton Association secretary Omar Rashid said.

Bahniman Bora was the last player to have won a junior national championship five years back.

In the under-16 final match, the 10-year-old Arunachal youngster Talar defeated second-ranked Maharashtra opponent Harsheel Dani 21-17, 21-9 to win the title at Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium on June 6.

Earlier in the semi-finals, Talar outplayed Aditya Joshi of Madhya Pradesh 21-14, 21-18.

The tournament commenced on June 2 and concluded on June 7.

About 1,000 shuttlers from 23 states took part in the tournament. The tournament was held with the aim to select the Indian team for the Junior Asian Championship to be held in Malaysia in July.