Sourabh Verma defeated Lakshya Sen 21-13, 21-12 to lift the men’s singles crown at the Senior National Championships in Patna on Tuesday.
Lakshya, who became the top-ranked player in the Badminton World Federation junior rankings last week, had shocked HS Prannoy before beating fourth seeded Harsheel Dani on the way to the final. Sourabh, seeded third for the tournament, had beaten defending champion Sameer Varma in the semi-final.
Varma is a former national champion and took the title without dropping a game in the competition. By contrast Lakshya, 15, battled his way into the final, after having won the Junior Nationals earlier this year. A win would have seen him emulate mentor Prakash Padukone, who had won the junior and senior Nationals at the age of 16.
The 24-year-old Varma though made his experience count as he kept the youngster in check and left little room for him to mount a surprise attack.
Rituparna Das clinches women’s singles title
In the women’s singles final, second seed Rituparna Das prevailed over Reshma Karthik 21-12, 21-14 to clinch the championship.
Rituparna dominated the contest maintaining a clear lead in both games. She needed just 28 minutes to dispatch her opponent before clinching the title.
In the women’s doubles contest the pair of Aparna Balan and Prajakta Sawant defeated Shikha Gautam and Sanyogita Ghorpade 21-9, 21-11.
Meanwhile, in the men’s doubles final, Nanda Gopal K and Sanyam Shukla lost to Satwik Sai Raj and Chirag Shetty 17-21, 21-16, 14-21.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!