Guwahati, Feb 16 (UNI) In a blockbuster face-off between the two Indian shuttle queens, Saina Nehwal beat PV Sindhu 21-18, 21-15 to win her fourth title at the Yonex-Sunrise 83rd Senior National Badminton Championships 2018-19, here today.
The men’s singles glory was reserved for Sourabh Verma who won his third Nationals title with a 21-18, 21-13 triumph over Asian junior champion Lakshya Sen.
The singles winners were awarded prize money of Rs 3.25 lakhs, while the runners-up got Rs 1.7 lakhs.
Each of the singles semi-finalists and the quarter-finalists got richer by Rs 62,500 and Rs 27,500 respectively.
The showdown between Saina and Sindhu, a repeat of their enthralling final from the previous edition, was undoubtedly the cynosure of all eyes at the packed stadium attended by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and BAI president Himanta Biswa Sarma, among others.
Saina overcame an erratic start to slowly gain in confidence.
The persistent approach and her spectacular court coverage helped Saina wrap it up in 44 minutes.
This was Saina’s fourth title after earlier triumphs in 2006, 2007 and 2017, while Sindhu had been looking to add to her 2011 and 2013 titles.
In men’s singles, Sourabh Verma and Lakshya Sen met in a repeat of their 2017 final.
Even though Sen stormed out of the blocks, it was the patient Sourabh who once again mastered the young Sen.
Verma thus tasted success at the Nationals for the third time following victories in 2011 and 2017.
Sen had to remain content with a two-time runner-up show.
Having lost in the men’s doubles final with Satwiksairaj Rankireddy in the last edition, Chirag Shetty made up for it this time in partnership with Pranaav Jerry Chopra.
The second seeds upset the top seeds Arjun MR and Shlok Ramchandran 21-13, 22-20 to take the
men’s doubles title.
UNI SG RN