There was no title for India at the Syed Modi India International badminton championships here on Sunday as last hope, the women’s doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa went down fighting to Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi of Japan 14-21, 21-17, 15-21 in the final.
The Indians, who virtually received a walk-over in the semi-final, fought to win the second game to draw level in the final. But in the decider, the seventh seeds found it difficult to overcome their superior rivals after trailing 8-11 at the change of ends.
It was a big success for Iwanaga and Nakanishi, who sealed the second title for Japan after the 2017 world champion Nazomi Okuhara defeated former world junior bronze medallist Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt of Denmark 21-19, 21-16 in the women’s singles final. The Japanese lost in the other three finals in this BWF World Tour Super 300 tournament.
Chinese Taipei’s unseeded Chi Yu Jen (Tai) claimed the men’s singles crown, upstaging second seed Kenta Nishimoto in a three-game thriller 20-22, 21-12, 21-17. Chi, the world No.48, rallied after losing a close first game in a battle which lasted one hour and 19 minutes.
Former world No.1, Okuhara, despite trailing early in the first game, kept tossing the shuttle to unsettle her Danish rival. In the second game too, the pint-sized Japanese remained focused on her game plan, winning her sixth BWF World Tour title in 51 minutes.
Tanisha and Ashwini played aggressively with the former unfurling a series of powerful smashes to help go 11-8 at the break in the first game. But that two-minute interval allowed the Japanese to recover and draw level at 12-all after Ashwini’s back-to-back unforced errors and then race to pocket the game in 18 minutes.
The Indians didn’t repeat the mistake after taking a slender 11-9 lead in the second game, racing to 16-10. Though the left-right Japanese combination tried to narrow the gap, Tanisha’s court coverage and Ashwini’s touch at the net helped them wrest the second game.
However, in the decider, the Indians always looked to narrow the gap after trailing 8-11 at the break. Even some brave efforts by them at the end didn’t help as the world No.15 pair eased to victory.
RESULTS (ALL FINALS)
Men’s singles: Chi Yu Jen (Tai) bt Kenta Nishimoto (Jpn) 20-22, 21-12, 21-17.
Men’s doubles: Choong Hon Jian-Muhammad Haikal (Mas) bt Akira Koga-Taichi Saito (Jpn) 18-21, 21-18, 21-16.
Women’s singles: Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) bt Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt (Den) 21-19, 21-16.
Women’s doubles: Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) bt Tanisha Crasto-Ashwini Ponnappa (Ind) 21-14, 17-21, 21-15.
Mixed doubles: Dejan Ferdinansyah-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja (Ina) bt Yuki Kaneko-Misaki Matsutomo (Jpn) bt Dejan 20-22, 21-19, 25-23.
