The Verma brothers — Sourabh and Sameer — made history of sorts in the 80th edition of the National badminton championship by becoming the first siblings to set up the singles final.
Sourabh, the 2012 champion but unseeded this time, turned back the clock to score contrasting victories on 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 Sourabh raced past sixth seed Shreyansh Jaiswal in the semifinals.
From the other half of the draw, 21-year-old Sameer lived up to his second seeding. He progressed to the final by overpowering an unfit third seed R.M.V. Gurusaidutt in three games, like just his earlier triumph over Pratul, Aditya’s brother.
The Sameer-Gurusaidutt match produced some exciting moments.
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 visibly uncomfortable and Sameer looked a worthy winner on this day.
In the ladies singles, the results were in keeping with the seedings after defending champion Ruthvika Shivani and fellow trainee from the Gopi Chand Academy, Rasika Raje, failed to make the most of the opportunities that came their way.
In the deciding game against second seed Thulasi, Ruthvika had leads of 5-0 and 15-12. But an ankle-injury sustained at 14-10 was to cost Ruthvika dear as Thulasi caught up at 17-all and then broke away from 18-all to win the 68-minute marathon.
Top seed Tanvi fought from 5-12 to win the close first game. Rasika returned the compliment in the second by sneaking through.
The decider saw Tanvi’s experience against a tiring Rasika prove decisive.
The results:
Men: Singles: Semifinals: Sourabh Verma bt Shreyansh Jaiswal 21-14, 21-15; Sameer Verma bt R.M.V. Gurusaidutt 15-21, 21-12, 21-14.
Quarterfinals: Jaiswal bt Chirag Sen 21-9, 21-9; Sourabh bt Aditya Joshi 21-8, 19-21, 21-11; Gurusaidutt bt Neeraj Vashisth 21-12, 21-10; Sameer bt Pratul Joshi 21-8, 13-21, 21-10.
Doubles: Semifinals: Pranaav Chopra & Akshay Dewalkar bt Krishna Prasad & Satwik Sai Raj 21-19, 22-20; Alwin Francis & K. Tarun bt Jishnu Sanyal & Shivam Sharma 22-20, 18-21, 21-15.
Quarterfinals: Chopra & Dewalkar bt G. Gopi Raju & Arjun Kumar Reddy 21-16, 21-16; Prasad & Satwik bt K. Nanda Gopal and Shlok Ramchandran 21-14, 25-23; Sanyal & Shivam bt Hemangendra Babu & V. Diju 21-15, 21-19; Francis and Tarun bt Rupesh Kumar & Sanave Thomas 21-19, 23-21.
Women: Singles: Semifinals: Tanvi Lad bt Rasika Raje 21-19, 19-21; P.C. Thulasi bt Ruthvika Shivani 10-21, 21-18, 21-18.
Quarterfinals: Tanvi bt Anura Prabhudesai 21-18, 21-12; Rasika bt Neha Pandit 21-15, 14-21, 24-22; Ruthvika bt Revati Devasthale 21-14, 21-7; Thulasi bt Reshma Karthik 21-10, 21-8.
Doubles: Semifinals: Pradnya Gadre & Sikki Reddy bt J. Meghna & K. Maneesha 21-17, 17-21, 22-20; Aparna Balan & Prajakta Sawant bt S.R. Poorvisha & Arathi Sara Sunil 21-13, 21-9.
Quarterfinals: Pradnya & Sikki bt Shruti Mundada & Anura Prabhudesai 21-10, 25-23; Meghana & Maneesha bt Mohita Sahdev & Sanjana Santosh 21-12, 21-16; Poorvisha & Aarathi bt Kuhoo Garg & Ningshi Block Hazarika 21-16, 21-19; Balan & Prajakta bt K.P. Sruthi & M.H. Haritha 21-16, 21-11.
Mixed doubles: Semifinals: Arun Vishnu & Aparna Balan bt Jishnu Sanyal & Prajakta Sawant 21-13, 20-22, 21-18; Pranaav Chopra & N. Sikki Reddy bt K. Nanda Gopal & J. Meghana 21-9, 21-14.
Quarterfinals: Vishnu & Balan bt Arjun Kumar Reddy & Sanjana Santosh 21-12, 21-7; Jishnu & Prajakta bt Satwik Sai Raj & K. Maneesha 21-12, 21-17; Pranaav Chopra & Sikky Reddy bt Vinay Kumar Singh & Riya Mookerjee 21-7, 21-10; Nanda Gopal & J. Meghna bt Nishad Dravid & Mansi Gadgil 21-12, 21-11.
