Badminton: Sourabh Verma wins Russian Open singles
Ace Indian shuttler Sourabh Verma clinched the men's singles title of the 2018 Russian Open, on Sunday. The final was held at the Sport Olympic Hall, Vladivostok. Kashyap Parupalli and Subhankar Dey were the other two Indian contenders in the men's singles. Parupalli reached the second round, whereas, Dey lost in the quarter-finals. Here's more about the tournament.
How did the match unfold?
On his comeback trail, after an injury, the 25-year old, Sourabh defeated world number 119, Japan's Koki Watanabe to bag the title. The final match lasted for an hour, with Watanabe taking an early lead as he entered the first interval with a lead of 11-5. Watanabe won the first game but succumbed under pressure and the scoreboard ultimately read 19-21, 21-12, 21-17.
Other events at the meet
The women's singles witnessed Malaysian Ho Yen Mei snatching the victory. She defeated Shiori Ebihara of Japan with a scoreline of 21-20, 11-21, 21-18. The Japanese team won the women's doubles. Interestingly, the men's doubles final was called off, due to the Malaysian team withdrawing at the very last moment.
Past achievements of Verma
The 25-year-old from Hyderabad was the Indian National Badminton Champion in the singles category in 2011. Verma had clinched back-to-back international titles in 2013 and 2014. He had won the Tata International and Iran Fajr Challenge respectively. He had also grabbed the Chinese Taipei Masters in 2016, followed by Bitburger Open in the same year.
Indian team falters in mixed doubles final
Indian mixed doubles team of Rohan Kapoor and Kuhoo Garg, the second seeded team, lost to Vladimir Ivanov and Min Kyung Kim in the final (19-21, 17-21). However, they are one of the most promising talents on the rise, having already won the Lagos International, a few days back. They are currently ranked 45th, two places short of their career best 43.
