Chetan, Trupti emerge champs

Sports reporter

GUWAHATI, Jan 10 – B Chetan Anand of Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) and his teammate Trupti Murgunde emerged proud winners in the men’s and women’s singles titles of the 74th Senior National Badminton Championship which concluded at the Nabin Chandra Bordoloi Indoor Stadium, Sarusajai here today. Jwala Gutta of PSPB won double crown by clinching mixed doubles and the women’s doubles titles.

In the summit clashes, 14th seed Chetan rallied to beat 13th seed Anup Sridhar, also of PSPB, 16-21, 21-19, 21-10, while Trupti got the better of Sayali Gokhle 21-17, 21-7.

Chetan was not in perfect form in the first set and Anup, champion of 2004 and 2005, took advantage and clinched the set quite convincingly 21-16. But the experienced Chetan staged a fine fightback and took the next sets 21-19, 21-10 with some delightful strokes and drop shots. The second set was evenly fought but in the final set, Anup virtually gave up to his sturdy opponent.

Second seed Trupti Murgunde of PSPB upset defending champion and top seed Sayali Gokhale of Air India 21-17, 21-7 in straight sets. It was the maiden title for the PSPB girl who dominated the proceedings from the very beginning.

Trupti was so accurate in her drop shots that Sayali was forced to run from one corner to another. In the first set, the Air India girl tried to stage a fightback in the middle of the set when Trupti lost her composure. Sayali narrowed the gap at the later stage but finally Trupti managed to keep her cool and fetch the set after a tough fight. But the second set was quite a one-sided affair.

Earlier, third seed PSPB duo V Diju and Jwala Gutta won the mixed doubles title upsetting top seed pair Arun Vishnu (Kerala) and Aparna Balan (PSPB) 21-12, 21-7 in the one-sided final.

In men’s doubles final, Rupesh Kumar (PSPB)-Sanave Thomas (Kerala) beat AI duo Akshay Dewalkar-Jishnu Sanyal 21-15, 21-18, while in the women’s section, Ashwini Ponnappa (Kar)- Jwala Gutta beat Aparna Balan- Shruti Kurien, both PSPB players, 21-15, 22-20. ASSAM TRIBUNE