Brilliant Thulasi emerges champ

The 19-year-old outclassed her fancied rival, ranked 42nd, 21-15, 21-13 in 35 minutes to win the top prize of USD 2910 in the USD 15,000 prize money event at the Cricket Club of India. Thulasi, who scalped second seed Jindapol Nitchaon of Thailand and National champion Sayali Gokhale on her way to the title clash, used the drop shots from the back court and some timely smashes to good effect to complete a memorable run in the tournament.

Later, in an all-Indonesian men’s final, top seed Yunus Alamsyah overcame a first game deficit to down fifth seeded compatriot Tommy Sugiarto 11-21, 21-13, 21-17 in one hour.
Thulasi allowed her Indonesian rival to bridge a 0-2 deficit and convert it into a 5-2 lead before making her comeback that saw her catch up with Ratnasari at 9-all in the first game.

From that stage onwards, it was the Indonesian who had to do the chasing as Thulasi gained the lead at 11-10 and then surged to win the opening game in 20 minutes with a string of drops and smashes.

A couple of lucky net-cords helped the Indian take lead at 16-11 before she went up to
match point at 20-13 with another lucky break at the net. She completed the memorable win with an excellent drop.

The men’s final produced the best contest as first Sugiarto dominated before Yunus wrested the initiative with some acrobatic retrievals in the second and third games. Sugiarto clinched the opener comfortably in 20 minutes against a rival who was error prone. But Yunus simply blew him away in the second by surging to a commanding 13-4 lead before winning the second in 15 minutes.

The results (all finals):

Men: 1-Yunus Alamsyah (Ina) bt 5-Tommy Sugiarto (Ina) 11-21, 21-13, 21-17.

Doubles: Riyadi Joko/ Yoga Ukikasah (Ina) bt 3-Akshay Dewalkar/ Arun Vishnu (Ind) 24-22, 21-16.

Women: P C Thulasi (Ind) bt 1-Fransiska Ratnasari (Ina) 21-15, 21-13.

Doubles: 1-Savitree Amitapai/ Somsri Nessara (Tha) bt Jindapol Nitchaon/ Jindapol Pattharaporn (Tha) 21-6, 21-18.

Mixed doubles: Patipat Chalardchaleam/ Savitree Amitapai bt 2-Arun Vishnu/ Aparna Balan (Ind) 21-10, 21-15.