Kamat rides home with men's crown

Defending champion wards off stiff challenge from Sunil Verma

 
Mohit edged out Sunil 21-18, 20-22, 21-9 in the final in just 47 minutes. Mohit dominated the proceedings right from the start. Sunil, who lost to Prakash Jolly in the boys’ final 21-14, 21-11 later in the day, put up a good fight in the second game but Mohit’s calm helped him wrap up the match.

However, the 22-year-old Mohit capitalising on his opponent’s unforced errors took the first game 21-18.

The 18-year-old Sunil played a far more impressive game in the second. Sports Authority of India paddler forced Mohit to play at the baseline before coming up with drop shots. Mohit soon shot into three-point lead at 11-8.

Mohit fought back with a series of powerful smashes and then a couple of drop shots saw the Shri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College student equalling the scores at 20-all. Sunil, however, held his nerve to clinch the second game and take the match to the decider.
Sunil looked energy sapped at the start of the third game. Mohit sighted his rival’s shortcoming and pushed him to all corners of the court to take a 11-4 lead in the decider. Sunil grabbed a couple of points before Mohit ended his opponent’s agony with a thundering smash.

Second seed Jacqueline Rose Kunnath completed a grand double when she won the girls’ under-19 crown on Friday with a 21-7, 21-17 upset win over top-seeded Poorvisha S Ram in the final. Jacqueline had won the women’s title on Thursday.

Results (all finals): Men: Mohit Kamat bt Sunil D Verma 21-18, 20-22, 21-9. U-19: Prakash Jolly bt Sunil Verma 21-14, 21-11. Doubles: Guruprasad/ Vineet Manuel bt Ajitwijetilekk/ Harshil Shah 22-20, 21-15. Veteran doubles: SKB Naidu/ Vinay GS bt M Ramu/ KP Vasanth Kumar 21-18, 21-17.