Gopichand, Aparna stamp their superiority

Kochi, Mar 1: Pullela Gopi Chand went through some anxious moments before adding a fourth straight title to his collection in the Indianoi...

Kochi, Mar 1: Pullela Gopi Chand went through some anxious moments before adding a fourth straight title to his collection in the Indianoil National Badminton Championship. Aparna Popat was in devastating form, making short work of BR Meenakshi of Karnataka, on the way to her third title in a row at the Rajiv Gandhi indoor stadium on Wednesday.

In sharp contrast, the 22-year-old Aparna Popat, also an officer with IOC, expected a tough fight from BR Meenakshi and faced no resistance. Except for a brief period in the beginning, Aparna, now ranked 23rd in the world, took only half an hour for her 11-6 11-1 victory.

Gopi had reasons to be wary of his rival as the brand of shuttle (Yonex-AS 3) was not conducive for strokeplay. Abhinn, a player who seldom makes errors, was naturally at home in the given conditions. He raced to a 6-1 lead in the first game and brought the small crowd to its feet with promise of what looked to be a rare fight against the defending champion, ranked 26th in the world.

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“This shuttle suits his game. I was not happy that I lost easy points…I was passive,” Gopi explained later. “A cool Abhinn, if he gets going, is a dangerous player. So my plan was to upset him,” he pointed out.

As Abhinn pounced on the chances that were offered, Gopi trailed 9-11. But the roles reversed as Abhinn soon became a spectator while Gopi gathered six points in a row.

Gopi was again erratic to start with in the second game as Abhinn led 3-1 but that phase lasted only for a couple of minutes as Gopi unleashed some of his lethal jump-shots that brooked no reply.

“It is not ideal to play a big tournament (Nationals) after the Thomas Cup,” Gopi was critical about the crowded schedule. “We will have to sit back and the Badminton Association of India too will have to pay more attention to the schedule, fitness of players etc,” he added.

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Meenakshi, playing her first final, led 5-2 in the first game. Aparna hit back and took the game giving only one more point to her rival. The second game was a washout as from 2-1 on, Aparna was unstoppable.

Later, Madhumita Bisht and PVV Lakshmi, the wild-card combination, making their debut in the Nationals, won the women’s doubles final beating G Jwala and Shruti Kurien of AP 15-3 15-8.

In the men’s doubles final, second seeds Vijaydeep Singh/Markose Bristow (Rly/PSCB) upset top seeds Jaseel P Ismail/Vincent Lobo of PSCB 7-15 15-4 15-10 in 70 minutes.