Basak, Kasturi reign supreme

Once on level terms, Basak was a picture of confidence serving and returning with finesse and accuracy. The fourth and final game appeared to be a see-saw tussle with Basak trailing at 17-20 but he held his own to force a deuce through unforced errors to nullify the opponent’s advantage. Basak then produced two forceful forehand smashes to secure the title.

Earlier in the women’s singles, 1997 National champion Kasturi played an attacking game to upset Poulami Ghatak’s rhythm.

She took an easy 5-0 lead in the first game on her serve but her rival fought back to level the scores at 6-all and 7-all.

Poulami took the lead for the first time at 13-12 and then increased it to 17-14 before Kasturi caught up at 17-all and then went on to lead 20-17. Though Poulami won two points she could not stop Kasturi from winning the first game at 21-19.

In the second game, Poulami took an early 12-5 lead to never look back winning the game 21-10. Kasturi, who won her second big tournament of her career after the Nationals, tightened up her game in the third and with some blistering forehand shots on either flanks she managed to win the game at 21-18.

Hereon it was Kasturi all the way. She simply outplayed her rival in all departments of the game to win 21-12.

Results: Men’s singles (SF) Arup Basak bt R Rajesh 13-21 21-14 22-20 21-7; Arjun Dutta bt Soumyadeep Roy 22-20 21-12 21-19 21-18. Final: Arup Basak bt Arjun Dutta 17-21 21-18 21-16 22-20.

Women’s Singles (SF): Poulami Ghatak bt Anandita Chakraborty 16-21, 21-18, 21-17, 21-16; Kasturi Chakraborty bt Montu Ghosh 21-18, 23-21, 21-12. Final: Kasturi Chakraborty bt Poulomi Ghatak 21-19, 10-21, 21-18, 21-12.