Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Nagpur, November 9
Saina Nehwal dug deep into her reservoir of experience and upstaged fancied PV Sindhu in straight games to clinch the women’s singles title in the badminton National Championship here today. The 27-year-old, a former world No. 1, got the better of Sindhu 21-17 27-25 in a pulsating summit clash that lasted 54 minutes.
“I am surprised with the way I played today. I moved well and picked Sindhu’s difficult shots,” Saina said.
Second seed HS Prannoy edged out top seed and world No. 2 Kidambi Srikanth 21-15 16-21 21-7 in a 49-minute battle to win the men’s singles title in the 82nd edition of the tournament.
It was double delight for Ashwini Ponnappa, who claimed the mixed doubles title with Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and the women’s doubles title with
N Sikki Reddy. Ashwini and Rankireddy beat top seeds Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Sikki 21-9 20-22 21-17. Later, Ashwini and Sikki beat Sanyogita Ghorpade and Prajakta Sawant 21-14 21-14.
Second seeds Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy saved three match points in the second game before beating top seeds Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty 15-21 22-20 25-23 in the men’s doubles final.
Unforced errors
The excitement reached a crescendo when Saina and Sindhu made their way to the court. The stadium reverberated with cheers of “Saina”, “Sindhu” and “India” as both the players engaged in some exciting rallies.
The duo split the initial 10 points before Saina started mixing it up. Saina moved to 17-12 before Sindhu reeled off four points to keep breathing down her opponent’s neck. However, unforced errors came back to haunt Sindhu as she hit out thrice and also found the net once to lose the opening game.
The second game went down to the wire. Sindhu raced away to 5-2, but Saina slowly constructed her points and crammed Sindhu for space. She clawed back to 6-6, but Sindhu ensured she had the advantage at the break as she led 11-8.
The 22-year-old extended her lead to 14-10 and maintained that till 18-14. Sindhu, however, committed a series of unforced errors to allow Saina draw parity at 18-18.
With Sindhu’s smash going out, Saina held a slender lead. Sindhu again went wide with a backhand lift to hand one match point to Saina. Some excruciatingly long rallies followed, which had the packed crowd on their toes. With the lead changing hands frequently, it was Saina who eventually broke the deadlock when Sindhu failed to retrieve a return.
Winning run snapped
The final between Srikanth and Prannoy also turned out to be an exhilarating one as the duo displayed their repertoire of strokes and athleticism during their fast-paced rallies. Srikanth has been in the form of his life as he clinched four titles after reaching five finals this season but the statistics didn’t matter on this day as Prannoy snapped his opponent’s 13-match winning streak.
“It means a lot. It came at the right time for me. It is great that I could beat Srikanth in the final. I have been playing well before this tournament and hope to do well in future,” Prannoy said.
