Hosts Andhra Pradesh started their gold hunt in the 32nd National Games in style, winning both the men's and women's badminton team titles at the GMC Balayogi Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday.

While it was a hat-trick of titles for the Andhra women, who beat a spirited Maharashtra 2-1, the men's team made light of the absence of star shuttler Pulella Gopichand to score a comfortable 3-1 victory over Kerala in the final.

In the women's final, after losing the first match, Andhra bounced back, winning the doubles to tie the score 1-1 before Deepti came up with a splendid show to register an upset 11-4, 5-11, 11-9 win over Manjusha Kanwar.

The Maharashtra women started on a winning note, with Tripti Mangarish stunning Neelima Choudhry 11-2, 11-5 as the Andhra girl committed some unforced errors. However, the hosts made amends in the doubles, where the formidable pair of Jwala and Shruti won 11-2, 11-5, trouncing Tripti and Manjusha.

The final singles kept the players and spectators on their toes, with Manujusha winning the second game after dropping the first. She rallied superbly in the decider with deft placements and exploited the inexperience of Deepti to a certain extent. But the Andhra girl kept her cool and unleashed some fine smashes to pull off a sensational win.

Earlier, the first match in the men's section saw no fireworks as both the shuttlers matched each other stride for stride. Andhra's Sasibhusan took the first game agianst Rupesh Kumar but the Kerala player bounced back to claim the second. However, Rupesh failed to hold his nerve as Sasibhusan won the third to take the match 15-7, 6-15, 15-3.

J B S Vidyadhar had absolutely no difficulty in brushing aside Joy T Anthony by a convicing 15-3, 15-1 margin.

However, the visitors fought back in the doubles, with V Diju and Sanave Thomas outsmarting the Andhra pair of Sunil and Prithvi 15-10, 15-1.

In the first game, the Andhra duo put in some resistance and gained 10 points but the the second was a very tame affair
as they could muster just a single point.

Chetan Annad survived some anxious moments in the third singles against Thomas Kurien, who showed his class with fine returns and powerpacked smashes. But after losing the first game 15-17, Anand won the next two 15-8, 15-8 for Andhra's first gold in the event.

Results:

Final:

Men: Andhra Pradesh beat Kerala 3-1 (Sasibushan beat Rupesh Kumar 15-7, 6-15, 15-3; J B S Vidysdhar bt Joy T Antony 15-3, 15-1; Sunil and Prithivi lost to V Siju and Sanave Thomas 10-15, 1-15; B Chetan Anand bt Thomas Kurien 15-17, 15-8, 15-8).

Women: Neelima Choudhry lost to Trupti Murugunde 2-11, 5-11; G Jwala and Shruti bt T Murugunde and Manjusha Kanwar 11-2,11-5; Ch Deepti bt Manjusha Kanwar 11-4, 5-11, 11-9.