No stopping Nikhil

By Our Sports Reporter

BHILAI, NOV. 4. A new set of champions emerged at the all-India major-ranking badminton tournament at the Bhilai Steel Plant indoor stadium, here, on Sunday.

First it was Trupti Murgunde of Air-India who upset the applecart of top seed P.V.V. Lakshmi of Petroleum Sports Control Board to claim the women's singles crown while unseeded Nikhil Kanetkar of PSCB defeated his colleague and the country's top-ranked player Abhinn Shyam Gupta for the men's title.

The singles crown gave Trupti a `double' as she had won the doubles, partnering Archana Deodhar, on Saturday. Lakshmi had to be content with the mixed doubles crown in the company of B. Chetan Anand of Oil and Natural Gas Commission in the final played in the morning. The two beat the top-seeded pair of Marcos Bristow of PSCB and Maharashtra's Archana Deodhar to claim the title.

Despite having different corporate affiliations, the two singles champions, Trupti Murgunde and Nikhil Kanetkar, were backed in their bid by a common Academy. Both are wards of the BPL-Prakash Padukone Academy in Bangalore, and joined in their efforts to add to the fame of their training school.

Lakshmi, ranked second to Aparna Popat in the national hierarchy, had an air of invincibility going into the final, having won all her matches with ease. Taking on the unassuming Trupti, ranked sixth in the country and seeded third here, Lakshmi seemed to be trapped in the complacency generated by the easy success she had gained so far.

Lakshmi won the first game easily as Trupti helped her opponent with a few unforced errors. The turnaround started in the second game when the 19-year-old Bangalore trainee sent perfect replies to her opponent's shots. Trupti kept her returns deep and showed good control in tackling the smashes of Lakshmi, to take the second game and level. The second game lasted 13 minutes and was easily the longest among the four that decided the title.

Challenged by a resolute opponent who committed very few errors, Lakshmi started making mistakes. The third game saw Trupti race to a 5-0 lead before claiming the game 7-4. The fourth game saw Trupti continue her domination and she raced to the match-point at 6-2. Lakshmi tried to retrieve the situation by earning a couple of points. However, it proved a little too late as Trupti got back the service and finished with a delicate drop to end the 44-minute duel.

The men's final followed a pattern similar to the women's contest. Top-seeded Abinn took the first game in just nine minutes, with a 7-4 verdict. The next game took twice that time as Nikhil clawed his way back. Nikhil, aggressive in the first game, followed Abinn's slow-paced defensive style and succeeded in his ploy as he clinched the second 7-3.

The third game witnessed a see-saw battle. When Abinn was 4-5 down in the third game, there was a short break at the behest of the organisers in order to welcome the chief guest, the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Mr. Ajit Yogi, who arrived late. Action resumed after a gap of almost 10 minutes but Abinn seemed to have lost the momentum due to the break and it was Nikhil who won the game 7-5. The fourth saw Nikhil at his best as he raced to a 6-1 lead before wrapping the match 7-1 after a 63-minute battle.

The results (finals):

Men's singles: Nikhil Kanetkar (PSCB) bt 1-Abhinn Shyam Gupta (PSCB) 4-7, 7-3, 7-5, 7-1.

Women's singles: 3-Trupti Murgunde (A-I) bt 1-P.V.V. Lakshmi (PSCB) 2-7, 7-3, 7-4, 7-4.

Mixed doubles: 1-Marcos Bristow (PSCB)/Archana Deodhar (Mah) lost to Chetan Anand (ONGC)/P.V.V. Lakshmi (PSCB) 2-7, 2-7, 2-7.

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