Kamal clinches crown

The women’s singles title was won by K Shamini, who brushed aside Mamta Prabhu 4-1.

With the title, Sharath has now eclipsed former National champion Kamlesh Mehta’s record of winning four consecutive national titles from 1985-88. However Sharath is still two titles short Kamlesh’s record eight National singles titles.

Roy, who eneterd the title round after a gap of nine years, dished out one of his most memorable performances, bouncing back from one set deficit to take a 3-1 lead. He even went close to snatching the title from Sharath. But the resilient India  No 1 hardly gave up, producing a brilliant fightback to clinch the Maharaja Pithapuram Cup for the sixth time.

In the women’s final, second seed Shamini registered a smooth win over fourth seeded Mamta to win Travancore Cup.