Ratti shocks Gopichand for title

Unseeded Sachin Ratti of Railways pulled off a major upset, beating India number one Pulella Gopichand to win the men's singles title in the inaugural Hari Chand memorial badminton tournament in Kanpur on Saturday.

In a thrilling final, Ratti beat an off-colour Gopichand 8-6, 0-7, 7-4, 8-6 to record perhaps his biggest victory of his career.

This is not the first time that Ratti has beaten the five-time national champion. In November last year, he had scored over the 2001 All England champion in a tournament in Udaipur.

Ratti, who had shocked Chetan Anand in the semi-finals on Friday, won a close first game but was outplayed in the second. However, he turned in a brilliant performance in the third and fourth games to leave his famed opponent gasping.

The victory earned Ratti a cash prize of Rs 40,000.

Earlier in the day, PSCB's B R Meenakshi won the women's crown, defeating Neelima Choudhary of Andhra Pradesh. Meenakshi won 6-8, 7-2, 7-5, 8-6.

Speaking to newsmen later, Ratti said he capitalised on Gopichand's weakness in attack to come out trumps.

"I noticed during my last match against Gopi, in Udaipur, that he was a little bit weak in an offensive game. Thus, I decided to go on the offensive against him to gain an advantage.

"Gopi looked exhausted and I went all out for victory," he said.

Ratti added: "Today's match was however a keenly-fought encounter unlike the match at Udaipur, which I won in three straight three games."

Gopichand attributed his defeat to lack of form, saying he is still to recover fully from the effects of a leg injury he suffered during the Masters tournament last December in Denmark.

However, he complimented Ratti, saying: "Sachin is a promising player and played well today. Besides, I also committed several mistakes. I lost game point thrice which gave Sachin a boost."

Earlier reports
Arvind Bhatt takes Gopichand to the distance
Sachin Ratti shocks Chetan Anand