Anand, Popat win Asian Satellite

Third seed Chetan Anand and second seed Aparna Popat scored facile victories to emerge champions in the men's and women's singles respectively in the BPL Asian Satellite badminton championships, in Bangalore on Saturday evening.

Twenty-one-year old Anand staved of initial resistance from unseeded Allan Tai of Malaysia to win 15-11, 15-7 in 37 minutes for his first international title in the seniors section.

Continuing her stranglehold over top seed and compatriot B R Meenakshi, 23-year-old undisputed queen of Indian badminton Popat returned to international badminton after a five-month lay-off with an easy 11-5, 11-4 win. Aparna needed just 25 minutes to vanquish Meenakshi, who was tired of playing too many matches in the tournament, for her sixth major win over her.

Chetan collected a purse of 1200 US dollars while Allan Tai had to be satisfied with $800. Aparna was richer by $900 and Meenakshi took home $500.

Anand, an engineering student from Vijayawada, said he was happy to have won his first major title. "My strategy of playing from close to the net paid off. When Allan Tai raced to a 10-1 lead, I slowed down the game and started playing from close to the net and it paid off. He made quite a few mistakes," he said.

"I first succeeded in blocking his strokes and with crowd support I played well also. If the match had gone to the decider it would have been difficult as I was tired," he admitted.

He said: "My future goal is to play well in the Singapore Open, Asian Badminton Confederation championship and the European circuit."

Anand came under intense pressure against the southpaw when he was down 0-8. However, he gained his first point at that stage and slowed down the pace of the game, upsetting the Malaysian, who revelled in jumping and smashing. Anand, with beautiful drop shots and excellent returns, won 11 points in a row and then again three on a trot to go one game up.

In the second, he raced to a 6-2 lead and allowed the southpaw to reduce the margin to 5-7. Thereafter, he tightened the game and won the match.

Popat said: "It feels good to return to international action with a victory. I was bit rusty and was not getting my movements till yesterday [Friday]. Meenakshi made too many errors," Popat, who last played at the All England and French Open, added.

"I am concentrating now on the ABC championship in Manila," she added.

In the men's doubles, Roman Razak and Ng Kean Kok of Malaysia rallied back to shock second seed Kitipon Kitikul and Sudket Prapakamol of Thailand 11-15, 15-13, 15-2.

Meenakshi's bad luck continued as she lost in the mixed doubles also. Jwala Gutta and J B S Vidyadhar of India defeated the top seeded pair of Meenakshi and Sandesh Chouta 15-10. 11-15, 15-9.

The final results:
Men's singles: Chetan Anand (Ind) bt Allan Tai (Mal) 15-11, 15-7.
Men's Doubles: Rosman Razak/Ng Kean Kok (Mal) bt Kitipon Kitikul/Sudket Prapakamol (Thai)11-15, 15-13, 15-2.
Women singles: Aparna Popat (Ind) bt B R Meenakshi (Ind) 11-5, 11-4.
Mixed doubles: Jwala Gutta/J B S Vidyadhar (Ind) bt B R Meenakshi/ Sandesh Chouta (Ind) 15-10, 11-15, 15-9.