Indian shuttlers claim 3 titles at Bangladesh Open

The winners at the Bangladesh Open with their medals (image courtesy: The Daily Star)

The Yonex -Sunrise Bangladesh Open International Badminton Challenge 2015, that concluded on Saturday proved to be a happy hunting ground for Indian shuttlers as they came away with as many as three titles from this event staged at the Shahid Tajuddin Ahmed Indoor Stadium in Dhaka.

While B Sai Praneeth clinched the men’s singles title, upcoming talent Ruthvika Shivani grabbed the women’s singles crown. They were joined on the podium by the duo of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar, who claimed the men’s doubles title.

The final in men’s singles was an all-Indian affair as the top seed and World No. 35 B Sai Praneeth overcame his compatriot and second seed Sameer Verma 21-14, 8-21, 21-17 in a see-saw contest. Praneeth, who reached the quarter-finals of the Macau Open the week before, made a brilliant start but lost his footing in the second game as Verma upped his aggression.

The third game was a tense thriller which could have gone either way but the 23-year-old held his nerves well to emerge victorious.

The women’s singles summit clash saw a mature, gutsy performance from India’s 18-year-old Senior National Champion, Ruthvika Shivani who toppled the top seed Iris Wang of the USA, 23-21, 19-21, 21-18. At the 36th position in the world rankings, the American is 101 places above the World No. 137 Shivani.

But the young Indian, a student of the Gopichand Badminton Academy, did not look intimidated by the gulf in the rankings as she fought her way to the title.

In the men’s doubles, the top-seeded pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar beat the unseeded Malaysian duo of Chee Tean Tan and Wee Gieen Tan 21-16, 21-16 to take the title.