Former national champion Arvind Bhat entered the $120,000 German Open Grand Prix Gold finals after registering a thrilling three-game victory over Chinese Taipei's Tien Chen Chou in the men's singles in Mulheim an der Ruhr, Germany.
The 34-year-old Indian shuttler took 55 minutes to prevail over his 15th seeded rival 21-12, 12-21, 22-20 at the RWE-Sporthalle.
The Bangalorean will now lock horns with 12th seeded Dane Hans-Kristian Vittinghus in the summit clash. Vittinghus defeated fourth seeded German Marc Zwiebler 21-16, 21-13 in the other semi-final.
World number 24 Tien Chen Chou has beaten Arvind twice in the past but that didn't count for much as the Indian dug deep from his experience to show the Taiwanese the door.
Arvind had no problems in disposing off Chou in the first game after taking a 6-3 lead with a five-point burst and then maintained the margin.
Chou, however, meted out the same treatment to Arvind in the second game when he broke off at 6-6 and marched ahead.
But in the decider, Arvind fought till the end after Chou had stepped up the competition. The duo battled from 6-6 to 14-14 with the lead changing hands frequently.
The Indian was ahead by a point after that and even though Chou caught up at 20-20, Arvind successfully staved off the challenge in the end.
Arvind has won six International titles, including the Scottish Open 2004 and the Czech International 2007. He participated in the 2010 Asian games in Guanzhou, China and was in the Indian team for Sudirman Cup 2011.
Photograph: Parivartan Sharma/Reuters
