Jayram, Aditi win maiden senior badminton titles

Mumbai, Dec 16 (UNI) Ajay Jayram (Pet) and Aditi Mutatkar (Pet) won their first Senior National titles recording upset wins over Anand Pawar and Trupti Murgunde respectively at the fifth edition of the USV Senior All India Ranking Major Prize Money tournament at the Cricket Club of India here today.

Fourth seeded Jayram continued his giant killing run, beating Anand Pawar in straight games 21-15, 21-15, whereas second seeded Mutatkar, also on a roll, was stretched into a third game against top seed Trupti Murgunde, which she won 21-18, 14-21 and 21-11.

Jayram bagged Rs 42,500 while runner-up Anand Pawar took home Rs 20,000. Mutatkar was richer by Rs 30,000, while Murgunde had to be content with 15,000.

Jayram was in full control of the men's singles finals where he kept the shuttle in play to allow the aggressive game of Pawar to make the errors. Pawar helped Jayram's cause as a number of unforced errors meant the former lost the advantage. Jayram was very calm through the game as the soft-spoken man from Maharashtra claimed his first senior national title.

Jayram, who had previously never reached beyond the quarterfinal stage in any senior event prior to this said, ''The win against the National Champion, Anup Sridhar, yesterday really boosted my confidence. I expected the game to be tougher but the errors from Pawar swung the game my way.'' The women's final was a closer affair where the game swung one way and then the other. Aditi Mutatkar, the 19 yr-old current Junior National Champion, was all pumped up for the game as was seen in her 'Come Ons' on court. Mutatkar won the first game 21-18 after errors from both players didn't allow either of them to take the lead. The second game, however, saw Murgunde turn on the style as her court coverage and play produced some fantastic points. Murgunde kept the momentum going and drew level winning the game 21-14. Having slipped on more than two occasions, Mutatkar was moving a little gingerly not being totally confident with her footing. Mutatkar pumped herself up for the final game and took advantage of Murgunde's mistakes to claim the game and the title.

The girl from Pune, currently training at the TATA Prakash Padukone Academy (Pune), was thrilled with her win. Reflecting on a good performance in the finals Mutatkar said, ''I had beaten all the senior players prior to this game except Trupti. I am thrilled to have managed the win. I was confident I could beat her as the win against B.R. Meenakshi gave me tremendous confidence,'' added the girl from BPCL.

Results (All Finals): Men's Singles: 4-Ajay Jayram (Pet) bt 3-Anand Pawar (AI) 21-15, 21-15.

Women's Singles: 2-Adtiti Mutatkar (Mah) bt 1-Trupti Murgunde (Pet) 21-18, 14-21, 21-13.

Men's Doubles: 1-Sanave Thomas (Ker)/ Roopesh Kumar (Pet) bt Marcos Bristow (Pet)/ Jaison Xavier (Ker) 21-15, 21-11.

Women's Doubles: 1-Aparna Balan (Ker)/ Krishna deka Raja (ASM) bt 2- Deepthi Shalini/ Deepthi Priyadarshini (AP).

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