JOIN USSridhar, Tanvi triumph
Anup Sridhar of Karnataka and Air India’s Tanvi Lad clinched the men’s and women’s singles titles in the Canara Bank all-India Senior-ranking badminton tournament at the KBA courts, here on Saturday.
Sridhar eked out a hard-fought 21-18, 8-21, 21-14 victory over top seed Sourabh Varma of Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) in the men’s final while Tanvi eased to a 21-17, 21-19 win over Rituparna Das of Andhra Pradesh in the women’s summit clash.
After an error-prone and indiscplined performance in the semis, Sridhar was expected to come up with an improved show against the top ranked Varma and the Bangalore lad did not disappoint.
In the first game, Sridhar dominated the early exchanges with his trademark smashes into the vacant areas of the court and well-judged dropped shots. After opening up a healthy five-point lead at 12-7, Sridhar lost his focus a little as Varma narrowed the deficit at 15-14 with some fine net play.
However, Sridhar got his act together soon to finish off the game at 21-18.
Varma was a man possessed in the second game as he ran up a ten-point lead at 15-5. The PSPB lad played a brilliant all-round game getting his cracking forehand right at critical junctures to take the attack to Sridhar and keep the pressure on. The top seed wrapped up the game at 21-8 to silence the expectant gathering.
Sridhar wasted no time revealing his intentions in the deciding third game as he racked up a 14-9 lead riding on his aggressive style before closing out the match comfortably at 21-14.
Results (Prefix denotes seedings, all finals): Men’s singles: 2-Anup Sridhar (Kar) bt 1-Sourabha Varma (PET) 21-18, 8-21, 21-14. Men’s doubles: Pranaav Jerry Chopra (AAI)/ Akshay Dewalkar (AP) bt K Nanda Gopal/ T Hemanagendra Babu 21-9, 22-20. Women’s singles: 3-Tanvi Lad (AI) bt 2-Rituparna Das (AP) 21-17, 21-19. Women’s doubles: 3-Meghana J (AP)/ Siki Reddy N (AAI) bt 1-Prajakta Sawant (PET)/ Arathi Sara Sunil (Ker) 21-19, 21-19.
Mixed doubles: 1-Tarun Kona/ Ashwini Ponnappa (PET) bt 2-K Nanda Gopal/ Siki Reddy 21-14, 21-14.