Badminton: Rituparna Das rules

Third seed Rituparna Das came out all guns blazing to stun top seeded Gadde Ruthvika Shivani to clinch the women’s singles title while Satwiksairaj Rankireddy bagged the men’s doubles and mixed doubles crowns in the India International Series badminton tournament played at the Sports Authority of India Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad.

Rituparna began the women’s singles final by capturing the first game at 11-7 but Ruthvika regained her composure to level the game scores by winning the second 11-8. However, Rituparna doubled her efforts and upped the ante to take the next two games at 11-7 and 14-12 to seal the title.

The men’s doubles final too witnessed a similar upset. The fourth seeded pair of Satwiksairaj and Chirag Shetty outclassed top seeds Sze Fei Goh and Nur Izzuddin of Malaysia in a see-saw battle that ended 8-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-8, 11-5.

Satwik continued his good form as he then teamed with K. Maneesha to  win the mixed doubles crown. The Indians edged out the Malaysian duo of Hang Yee Low and Yee See Cheah 5-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-8.

Lakshya Sen brought in more laurels for India as he defeated Malaysian ninth seed Zii Jia Lee 11-13, 11-3, 11-6, 11-6 in the men’s singles final.

The Results
Men’s singles final: Lakshya Sen (IND) bt Zii Jia Lee (9) (MAS) 11-13, 11-3, 11-6, 11-6. Semifinals: Lakshya Sen (IND) bt Shreyansh Jaiswal (1) (IND) 11-8, 11-6, 11-5; Zii Jia Lee (9) (MAS) bt June Wei Cheam (11) (MAS) 11-13, 11-9, 11-3, 8-11, 11-7.

Women’s singles final: Rituparna Das (3) (IND) bt Gadde Ruthvika Shivani (1) (IND) 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 14-12. Semifinals: Gadde Ruthvika Shivani (1) (IND) bt Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli (8) (IND) 13-11, 11-5, 11-3; Rituparna Das (3) (IND) bt Shruti Mundada (IND) 9-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-6.

Men’s doubles final: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty (4) (IND) bt Sze Fei Goh and Nur Izzuddin (1) (MAS) 8-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-8, 11-5. Semifinals: Sze Fei Goh and Nur Izzuddin (1) (MAS) bt Arjun MR and Ramchandran Shlok (5) (IND) 11-6, 8-11, 9-11, 13-11, 14-12; Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty (4) (IND) bt Aaron Chia and Jinn Hwa Tan (MAS) 11-6, 11-8, 15-13.

Women’s doubles final: Yea Ching Goh and Chiew Sien Lim (2) (MAS) bt Joyce Choong and Jee Lynn Lim (MAS) 11-6, 11-7, 6-11, 11-7. Semifinals: Joyce Choong and Jee Lynn Lim (MAS) bt Kah Mun Chin and Zhen Yap (MAS) 11-4, 8-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7; Yea Ching Goh and Chiew Sien Lim (2) (MAS) bt Mahima Aggarwal and Shikha Gautam (IND) 11-6, 11-8, 11-7.
Mixed doubles final: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and K Maneesha (1) (IND) bt Hang Yee Low and Yee See Cheah (MAS) 5-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-8. Semifinals: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and K Maneesha (1) (IND) bt Basheer Syed and Sahithi Bandi (IND) 11-4, 11-8, 11-6; Hang Yee Low and Yee See Cheah (MAS) bt Vighnesh Devlekar and Kuhoo Garg (IND) 11-7, 11-8, 6-11, 12-10.