Date:23/08/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/08/23/stories/2005082309152000.htm

Sport - Badminton

Siddarth is champion

Sports Reporter

Erode: Siddarth Jain of Chennai crushed defending champion Venkatesh of Madurai 15-1, 15-0 to win the men's singles title of the Good Shot 2005 Yonex-SKM Tamil Nadu State senior badminton championship at the Nilgiris Indoor Hall here on Sunday.

The former French Open champion played a perfect game. Besides the championship trophy, he also gained the Chandrasekar Memorial Trophy for being the most disciplined player.

In the men's doubles final, the top seeded pair of Raghavan and Venkatesh struggled a bit in the initial stages before overcoming Prakash and Shyam Sundar of Chennai 15-13, 15-5.

The veterans' doubles title went to local pair Senguttuvan and Chandran. The duo played to a plan to oust a fighting Chennai combo Jayakar and A.P. Reddy 15-9, 17-14.

The Erode District Collector, D. Karthikeyan, gave away the prizes.

The results: Final (men's singles): Siddarth Jain (Chennai) bt Venkatesh (Madurai) 15-1, 15-0; Doubles: Raghavan & Venkatesh bt Prakash & Shyam Sundar (Chennai) 15-13, 15-5, Veteran's doubles: Senguttuvan & Chandran (Erode) bt Jayakar & A.P. Reddy (Chennai) 15-9, 17-14.