Rosobin and Meenakshi lift crowns

Published December 1, 2004

ISLAMABAD, Nov 30: The men's singles final of the Pakistan Asian Satellite international badminton tournament on Tuesday proved to be an anti-climax, Indonesian Marleve Mainaky handing his compatriot Jeffer Rosobin the crown after retiring in the second set.

Right from the start, the decider had begun to look one-sided as Rosobin dominated play against the tournament's 3rd seed and scored a 15-5, 4-0 victory to secure the trophy.

Rosobin, conqueror of Japanese top seed Ikeda Yuichi in the semi-finals on Monday, packed awesome power in his strokes and quickly won the first set and was 4-0 up in the second when his opponent conceded the match.

"I wasn't expecting the match to end the way it did, but I was supremely confident of winning today after upsetting Yunichi yesterday," said Rosobin. Mainaky, who knocked out No 2 seed Gupta Abhin Shyam of India on way to the final, appeared to struggle as long as he managed to stay on court at the Liaquat Gymnasium.

It was an unauspicious end to a match that was supposed to be the showpiece event of the tournament. And it was all the more disturbing that no Pakistani player was on show. There was also no home player in the women's singles event which was an all-India affair. And like the men's decider, it too saw just one-way traffic.

BR Meenakshi, the No 1 seed, was off to a high octane start against her second seeded opponent Govardhini Sharadha and never looked back. She appeared in a big rush and the final score line of 11-3, 11-2 said it all.

The tall Meenakshi made good use of her height to pin down her team-mate and was as ruthless as she was against 4th seed Dewi Tira Arisadui in Monday's semi-finals. Govardhini could not put up the kind of show that had seen her down her compatriot Nair Dhanya in the pre-finals.

While both the singles finals failed to live up to expectations, the men's doubles decider, however made up for that somewhat. Indonesians Bagus Suprobo and Steny Kasuma made a tenacious recovery after being 3-8 down in the second set against their Indian rivals Bristow Markose and Xavier Jaison to score a 15-5, 15-11 victory.

The match featured exciting rallies and powerful strokeplay and the Indian duo after losing the first set almost forced the match into a third when they led 8-3. But in a dramatic turnaround, the rival team bounced back to level the scores at 11-11 and then surged ahead to wrap up the match.

India had better luck in the mixed doubles final though as the pair of Bristow Markose and BR Meenakshi carved out a hard-fought 15-11, 15-3 win against Indonesians Hendry Winarto and Dewi Arisandi.

RESULTS

MEN'S SINGLES FINAL: Jeffer Rosobin (Ina) bt Marleve Mainaky (Ina) 15-5, 4-0 (retd).

WOMEN'S SINGLES FINAL: BR Meenakshi (Ind) bt Govardhini Sharadha (Ind) 11-3, 11-2.

MEN'S DOUBLES FINAL: Bagus Suprobo-Steny Kasuma (Ina) bt Bristow Markose-Xavier Jaison (Ind) 15-5, 15-11.

MIXED DOUBLES FINAL: Bristow Markose-BR Meenakshi (Ind) bt Hendry Winarto-Dewi Arisandi (Ina) 15-11, 15-13.

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