Anand, Popat reign

Chetan Anand and Aparna Popat won the men's and women's singles titles respectively in the 68th National Badminton Championships in Hyderabad on Thursday.

In the finals, Anand trounced Arvind Bhatt 15-12, 15-8 to justify his top billing while Popat scored a smashing 11-0, 11-6 win over Trupti Murgunde to win the national title for the seventh consecutive time.

Markose Bristow and Roopesh Kumar won the doubles title in the men's section, beating Jaseel P Ismail and JBS Vidyadhar 15-5, 15-6 in the final.

The men's singles final evoked good interest, with Arvind posting a stiff challenge to the top seed and exhibiting some scintillating smashes. But he could not match Anand when it mattered in the thrilling first game, which he lost 15-12.

Amidst cheers from the crowd at every rally and power packed smash, the two shuttlers gave a good display of slow serves and baseline play with Anand racing away to 4-0 lead in the second game.

Arvind, who had toppled Abhinn Shyam Gupta and Sachin Ratti en route to the final, bounced back to 8-11 and was going strong when Anand raised his game by a few notches to win at 15-8 and retain the title.

The women's singles was a one-sided affair with Popat winning the match without much ado.

Pullela Gopichand and G Jwala won the mixed doubles, defeating Jaseel P Ismail and Manjusha Kanwar 15-6, 8-15, 15-3 last night.

Results (finals):

Men: Chetan Anand (PSPB) bt Arvind Bhatt (PSPB) 15-12, 15-8.

Women: Aparna Popat (PSPB) bt Trupti Murgonde (Mah) 11-0, 11-6.

Men doubles: Markose Bristow and Roopesh Kumar bt Jaseel P Ismail and JBS Vidyadhar 15-5, 15-6.

Women's doubles: G Jwala and Shruti Kurien bt Trupti Murgunde and Fatima Md 5-15, 15-4, 15-4.

Mixed doubles: Pullela Gopichand and G Jwala (PSPB) bt Jaseel P Ismail and Manjusha Kanwar (PSPB) 15-6, 8-15, 15-3.