Sourabh Verma and Sai Uttejitha Rao make it to finals in Senior Ranking Tournament
Sourabh Verma and Sai Uttejitha Rao have advanced to the second straight All India Senior Ranking Tournament final in Hyderabad. Given that they reached the finals of both the tournament to be taken into consideration for Asian games selection, they have great chance to make it to the Asiad squad.
Sourabh Verma and Sai Uttejitha Rao, who had won the Senior Ranking Bengaluru tournament last week, have now also made it to the final in Senior Ranking Hyderabad tournament. The Badminton Association of India had announced that the squad for the Asian Games would be picked on the basis of performances in both these tournaments, which puts both the players in pole position for a spot in India’s badminton squad for the Asian Games.Â
Playing on home turf at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy, Verma had all the support he needed as he defeated one of India’s brightest badminton prospects, Lakshya Sen, in the semi-finals in three games. Cheered on by the home crowd, Verma started the match as the stronger of the two shuttlers and had an 11-8 lead at the interval of the first game, before Sen fought back to level it at 16-16. However, Verma won five of the next six points to take the first game 21-17.
The 16-year-old Sen upped the ante in the second game and took an 11-7 lead into the interval before Verma fought back to make it 13-13. However, in what was a reversal of the first game, as Sen won eight of the next 10 points to win the second game 21-15 to force a decider. Verma got off to a great start in the third game, taking a 5-0 lead before Sen fought back to make it 9-9. However, Verma maintained a gap between himself and the teenager until the end, eventually winning the third game 21-15. The match lasted an hour and seven minutes.
In the final, Sourabh would take on another Gopichand academy graduate in Siril Verma, who overcame Rahul Yadav 21-18, 21-19.
In the women’s singles, Uttejitha was also playing on home turf but did not have as much support as Verma did as she was playing against chief national coach Gopichand’s daughter Gayatri. However, the 19-year-old Uttejitha used her experience as the match progressed and managed to silence the crowd by completely dominating her 15-year-old opponent. Uttejitha wrapped up the match 21-14, 21-18 in just 39 minutes to book a spot in the final, where she would face 18-year-old Ashmita Chaliha. The Assam girl fought back from a game down to beat junior national champion Aakarshi Kashyap 19-21, 21-17, 21-12 in the second semi-final.
