Rising shuttlers P.V. Sindhu and R.M.V. Gurusaidutt notched up straight-game victories to clinch the women’s and men’s singles titles in the Vankina Anjani Devi Memorial All India Senior Ranking Tournament here.
World number 16 Sindhu, who was the top seed, prevailed over seventh seed Arundhati Pantawane of Petroleum 21-13 21-19 at the Gopichand Academy on Sunday.
In men’s singles, third seed and world number 38 Gurusaidutt rode on his better return shots and smashes to outdo top seed and close friend Sai Praneeth B 21-19 21-14.
Sindhu was aggressive from the start and it reaped dividends as she soon marched ahead to earn the bragging rights after pocketing the first game.
In the second game, Arundhati got her act together and gathered a few points but it was Sindhu who had the last laugh in the 25-minute match.
“It was a good match. I played well and won in straight games,” Sindhu told PTI .
Gurusaidutt found it difficult to get the length right in the first game and was lagging 13-15 but a slew of points took him to 19-15 and he didn’t miss many of the opportunities thereafter to pocket the game.
In the second game, Guru was more confident and with Praneeth getting tired, he stepped up the pressure to comfortably emerge victorious in the end.
“It is always difficult to win against Praneeth as we know each other’s game. So the first game was tricky and it was close but I am happy I could win the title,” Guru said.
Finals: Men singles: R M V Gurusaidutt (3) (PET) bt Sai Praneeth B (1) (PET) 21-19 21-14; Women singles: P.V. Sindhu (1) (PET) bt Arundhati Pantawane (7) (PET) 21-13 210-19; Men’s doubles : Dewalkar Akshay (AI) and Jerry Chopra Pranav (2) (PET) bt Tarun K and Arun Vishnu (1)(PET) 16-21 21-9 21-15; Women’s doubles : Gadre Pradnya( AAI) and G Ruthvika Shivani (5)(AP) bt J Meghana (AP) and Das Rituparna (WB) 18-21 21-17 21-18; Mixed doubles : Dewalkar Akshay (AI) and Gadre Pradnya (3) (AAI) bt Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan (1) (PET) 17-21 21-10 21-18.
