Chetan makes it a no contest

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, SEPT. 9. Bangalore is proving to be a happy hunting ground for Chetan Anand. The 21-year-old from Vijayawada, close on the heels of the Asian Satellite title triumph here in the first week of August, struck again on Sunday to claim the men's singles title in the first Infineon Cup Open badminton championship which concluded at the Raheja-KBA Stadium here.

Chetan Anand, seeded second, beat the top seed Abhinn Shyam Gupta for the crown and a winner's purse of Rs. 1 lakh at 7-4, 8-7, 7-3 in a final which was marked by some top quality stuff in patches. Abhinn Shyam took home a cheque for Rs. 50,000.

The women's No. 1, B.R. Meenakshi of the IOC, had a much easier time than Chetan. She blasted her way to the title in 16 minutes beating the unseeded Trupti Murgunde of Air-India 7-2, 7- 0, 7-1. Meenakshi later completed a grand double winning the women's doubles partnering Oli Deka of Oil India Limited. Meenakshi's efforts fetched her Rs. 60,000 in total prize money while Trupti claimed Rs. 25,000.

Abhinn's performance came as a disappointment to his legion of fans who are fascinated by his touch play. In a game, where defensive players are an endangered species, Abhinn Shyam enthralls all with his great retrieval and stonewall defence.

The problem on this day was that he stuck to only defence instead of launching into an attack when the occasion demanded. He was also a shade slower on the court but at the net he had the better of exchanges with his dribble. Chetan Anand though did not allow him too much of liberty in that area.

Chetan's gameplan was pretty simple. He just hit his way through the tie allowing little respite to his rival. He raced away to a 6-0 lead in the first game before relaxing his grip.

Abhinn then staged a gritty rally taking his first point with a patent drop and then another with an on-the-line toss. He took two more before Chetan Anand wrested the serve back and then forced Abhinn to play over the sidelines.

In the second game Abhinn got right back into his stride with delectable flicks, drops and crafty returns. He ran up a 4-0 lead before Chetan Anand counterattacked and equalised at 4-all. They went neck and neck till 6-all. With the game set for eight points Chetan missed a return and gave the lead to Abhinn at 7-6.

The serves changed hands a couple of times at this stage before Chetan Anand gently pushed a short serve which Abhinn failed to reach. At 7-all the game was tantalizingly poised but Chetan hammered a strong one to Abhinn's backhand, who in turn netted the return to drop the game (7-8).

Abhinn Shyam was clearly dismayed by the reversal of fortunes in the second game and made quite a few unforced errors in the third. At 3-4 he put a toss out and again netted a backhand to go be down 3-6. He saved two match points but the end came soon. Chetan Anand fired a half smash to shut out match.

Chetan Anand was delighted with his relatively easy win. ``I was a bit disappointed in the first game when I gave away points after a 6-0 lead. The second was a very tight one but I went for my strokes and kept up the attack.'' Abhinn felt that the tie could have changed course had he taken the second game. ``I played my usual game, but I should have attacked a little more,'' he said.

Meenakshi, the National runner-up, made sure that Trupti did not improvise her game. Meenakshi set a scorching pace with her flicks and deep hits to force Trupti to back pedal all the way. Trupti did impress in patches, but made far too many mistakes to stay in the race against her formidable rival.

``I have beaten her in the junior ranks, but she had done well to come to the final and I was not taking her lightly. There's that one shot she is very good at playing - forehand cross court, even that I could counter well today and I missed only one of them,'' said the elated champion, whose last outing (Asian satellite) saw her finish as a runner-up to Aparna Popat.

In the doubles final Meenakshi, who is revelling in her newly forged combination with Oli Deka, came trumps again. The pair beat the seasoned duo of Madhumita Bhist and P.V.V. Lakshmi at 8- 6, 1-7, 7-1, 7-5.

The third seeded pair Jaseel P. Ismail (IOC) and Jaison Xavier (Kerala) bagged the men's doubles title beating wild cards Ajit Wijetilak (BPCL) and Jose George (Kerala) 7-3, 7-0, 5-7, 7-4.

Dr. Klaus Gohlke, Managing Director of Infineon Technologies (India) which sponsored the championship, presided and Mr. N.K. Jain, Chief Justice, Karnataka High Court gave away the prizes.

lThe results (all finals, prefix indicate seedings): Men: singles: 2-Chetan Anand (ONGC) bt 1-Abhinn Shyam Gupta (IOC) 7-4, 8-7, 7-3. Doubles: 3-Jaseel P. Ismail (IOC)/Jaison Xavier (Ker) bt Ajit Wijetilak (BPCL)/Jose George (Ker) 7-3, 7-0, 5-7, 7-4.

Women: singles: 1-B.R. Meenakshi (IOC) bt Trupti Murgunde (AI) 7- 2, 7-0, 7-1. Doubles: 3- Oli Deka (OIL)/B.R. Meenakshi (IOC) bt 2-Madhumita Bhist (Rlys)/ P.V.V. Lakshmi (Rlys) 8-6, 1-7, 7-1, 7- 5.

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