Seasoned campaigner Sourabh Verma used all his experience to deny Lakshya Sen a fairytale end as he tamed the new badminton sensation in straight games in the summit clash to emerge men’s singles champion at the 81st Senior Badminton National Championship in Patna on Tuesday.
Third seed Verma walked away with a 21-13 21-12 win over the junior world number one, who made a lasting impression with his game in this tournament.
Verma dominated the 33-minute contest in which he won 42 points to 25 of his rival.
15-year-old Lakshya, who recently became Junior World No. 1, had a dream run to reach the final. He defeated the likes of HS Prannoy (the top seed) and Harsheel Dani (fourth seed) and had he won the final, would have become the youngest national champion — a record currently held by his coach Prakash Padukone.
The women’s singles title was lifted by second seed Rituparna Das, who brushed aside the challenge of ninth seed Reshma Karthik 21-21 21-14 in 28 minutes in the final.
The men’s doubles crown was taken by third seed pair of Satwik Sai Raj R and Chirag Shetty, who overcame a stiff resistance from Nanda Gopal K and Sanyam Shukla 21-17 16-21 21-14 in a battle of 54 minutes.
The women’s doubles title was annexed by third seeds Aparna Balan and Prajakta Sawant, who hardly broke a sweat in beating Shikha Gautam and Sanyogita Ghorpade 21-9 21-11 in 24 minutes.
The top seeded pair of Satwik Sai Raj R and Maneesha K took the mixed doubles crown with a hard fought 21-14 21-18 win over second seeds Venket Gaurav Prasad and Juhi Dewangan.
Here are the winners of the nationals this year:
With PTI inputs