The Verma brothers – Sourabh and Sameer – made history in the 80th edition of the National badminton championship by becoming the first siblings to set up the singles final.
Sourabh, the 2012 champion (unseeded this time), had contrasting victories on his way to Sunday’s title-clash. After a hard-fought three-game triumph over fifth seed Aditya Joshi in the quarterfinal, the 23-year-old raced past sixth seed Shreyansh Jaiswal in the semis.
From the other half of the draw, 21-year-old second seed Sameer progressed to the final by overpowering an unfit third seed R. M. V. Gurusaidutt in three games.
Once Sameer sensed that his opponent’s movements were restricted owing to a stiff hamstring, he attacked relentlessly in the second game. As the match progressed, Gurusaidutt was uncomfortable and Sameer won it easily.
Tanvi v Thulasi in women's singles final
In the ladies singles, the results were in keeping with the seedings as top seed Tanvi Lad and second seed P. C. Thulasi beat Rasika Raje and defending champion Ruthvika Shivani, respectively.
In the deciding game against Thulasi, Ruthvika had leads of 5-0 and 15-12. But an ankle injury sustained at 14-10 cost Ruthvika dearly as Thulasi came back to make it 17-all and then broke away from 18-all to win a 68-minute match.
Tanvi fought from 5-12 to win the first game. Rasika won the second. The decider saw Tanvi triumphing against a tiring Rasika.
The results (prefix denotes seeding):
Men singles (semifinals): Sourabh Verma (Pet) bt 6-Shreyansh Jaiswal (CG) 21-14, 21-15; 2-Sameer Verma (AI) bt 3-R. M. V. Gurusaidutt (Pet) 15-21, 21-12, 21-14; (quarterfinals): Jaiswal bt Chirag Sen (AI) 21-9, 21-9; Sourabh Verma bt 5-Aditya Joshi (MP) 21-8, 19-21, 21-11; Gurusaidutt bt 8-Neeraj Vashisth 21-12, 21-10; 2-Sameer Verma bt 13-Pratul Joshi (MP) 21-8, 13-21, 21-10.
Women singles: (semifinals):1-Tanvi Lad (Pet) bt 14-Rasika Raje (AAI) 21-19, 19-21; 2-P. C. Thulasi (Pet) bt 9-Ruthvika Shivani (Pet) 10-21, 21-18, 21-18; (quarterfinals): Tanvi bt 8-Anura Prabhudesai (AI) 21-18, 21-12; Rasika bt 4-Neha Pandit (Mah) 21-15, 14-21, 24-22; Ruthvika bt 6-Revati Devasthale (Mah) 21-14, 21-7; Thulasi bt 6-Reshma Karthik (AI) 21-10, 21-8.
Men doubles: (semifinals): 1-Pranaav Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar (Pet) bt Krishna Prasad and Satwik Sai Raj (AP) 21-19, 22-20; 2-Alwin Francis (Ker) and K. Tarun (Pet) bt 4-Jishnu Sanyal (AI) and Shivam Sharma (UP) 22-20, 18-21, 21-15;(quarterfinals): Chopra and Dewalkar bt G. Gopi Raju and Arjun Kumar Reddy (Tel) 21-16, 21-16; Prasad and Satwik bt 3-K. Nanda Gopal and Shlok Ramchandran 21-14, 25-23; Sanyal and Shivam bt Hemangendra Babu (Rlys) and V. Diju (Pet) 21-15, 21-19; Francis and Tarun bt Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas 21-19, 23-21.
Women doubles: (semifinals):1-Pradnya Gadre (Mah) and Sikki Reddy (Pet) bt 3-J. Meghna and K. Maneesha (AI) 21-17, 17-21, 22-20; 2-Aparna Balan and Prajakta Sawant (Pet) bt 4-S. R. Poorvisha (Kar) and Arathi Sara Sunil (Ker) 21-13, 21-9; (quarterfinals): Pradnya and Sikki bt Shruti Mundada (Mah) and Anura Prabhudesai (AI) 21-10, 25-23; Meghana and Maneesha bt 8-Mohita Sahdev (Del) and Sanjana Santosh (AI) 21-12, 21-16; Poorvisha and Aarathi bt 7-Kuhoo Garg (Utk) and Ningshi Block Hazarika (Asm) 21-16, 21-19; Balan and Sawant bt 6-K. P. Sruthi and M. H. Haritha (Ker) 21-16, 21-11.
Mixed doubles: (semifinals): 1-Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan (Pet) bt Jishnu Sanyal (AI) and Prajakta Sawant (Pet) 21-13, 20-22, 21-18; 3-Pranaav Chopra and N. Sikki Reddy (Pet) bt 6-K. Nanda Gopal (CAG) and J. Meghana (AI) 21-9, 21-14; (quarterfinals): Vishnu and Balan bt Arjun Kumar Reddy (Tel) and Sanjana Santosh (AI) 21-12, 21-7; Jishnu and Prajakta bt Satwik Sai Raj (AP) and K. Maneesha (AI) 21-12, 21-17; Pranaav Chopra and Sikky Reddy bt Vinay Kumar Singh and Riya Mookerjee (UP) 21-7, 21-10; Nanda Gopal and J. Meghna bt Nishad Dravid and Mansi Gadgil (Mah) 21-12, 21-11.
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