Russian Open 2018: Sourabh Verma wins title; Rohan Kapoor and Kuhoo Garg finish runners-up 

Sourabh Verma won the Russian Open 2018 title, beating Koki Watanabe while the mixed doubles pair of Rohan Kapoor and Kuhoo Garg lost their final in straight games at this Super 100 tournament played in Russia on Sunday.

In the mixed doubles final, Rohan Kapoor and Kuhoo Garg took on Russian Vladimir Ivanov and Korean Kim Min Kyung. It was a dominating performance BY Ivanov and Kim Min Kyung, who outplayed the Indian pair winning the match, 21-19, 21-17. Kapoor and Garg played well in both the games, but could not close out and lost the match.

Sourabh Verma took on Koki Watanabe in the men’s singles final. It was a gruelling match as both players fought for each point. In the first game, the Japanese Watanabe played with aggression and did not allow Sourabh Verma chances to come back into game.

At the interval, Watanabe was leading 11-5. After the interval, Verma made a strong comeback to reduce the gap to 11-12 in favour of Watanabe. After that, the Japanese took the lead and won the first game 21-18.

Verma made a strong comeback in the 2nd game with aggressive stroke play taking an 11-6 lead at the interval. After the interval, Verma continued his aggressive intent, winning it 21-12 to force the match into the decider.

It was a dominating display by the Indian player, who showed courage and displayed lots of determination.

In the third and deciding game, the Watanabe showed aggression, leading 9-3. At the interval, the Japanese had an 11-7 lead. After the interval, Verma fought back brilliantly to level the scores at 15-15.

From 17-17, Sourabh Verma took 4 points in succession to win the 3rd game 21-17 to win his first international title of the season.

Coming back from an injury, Verma played great badminton and showed his class in this tournament. It would do him a world of good in the coming tournaments.