Reigning national champion Abhinn Shyam Gupta crashed out of the Canara Bank-sponsored Senior ranking badminton tournament in Bangalore on Friday, losing to Andhra Pradesh's J B S Vidyadhar 15-12, 9-15, 4-15 in the semi-finals.
It was disappointing for the top-seeded Gupta (Petroleum Sports Promotion Board), ranked 68 in the world, since he was keen to proceed on a triumphant note to the Singapore Open, beginning next week, where he is featured in the main draw.
Though Gupta started strongly, he lost steam after the first game as his opponent, an accounts clerk with Railways, based in Hyderabad, grew in confidence and emerged as the deserving winner.
The 24-year old Vidyadhar, who is quitting the Railways shortly to join Indian Oil Corporation, said afterwards it is his maiden entry into the final of a major event though he made it thrice into the semi-finals at big tournaments in the past.
Today's victory was sweet revenge for Vidyadhar, who recently lost narrowly to Gupta in the semi-finals of a tournament in Mumbai.
"Today, everything went right for me. My smashes were good," Vidyadhar said after the match.
The pair of Jwala Gutta and Shruti Kurien (both PSPB) lifted the women's doubles title, defeating the duo of Trupti Murgunde (Mahrashtra) and Fathima Nazneen Mohammed (Kerala) 15-1, 15-8.
Meanwhile, Vidyadhar will now cross swords with second seeded Chetan Anand (PSPB) in tomorrow's final.
In a keenly fought semi-final, Anand outlasted Arvind Bhat, also of PSPB, 15-11, 6-15, 17-15.
It was a day of surprises as top seed in the women's section, B R Meenakshi also fell by the way-side.
In the quarter-finals, Andhra Pradesh's Saina Mehwal defeated Meenakshi (PSPB), ranked 78 in the world, 11-6, 0-11, 11-9.
But that was as far as Saina could come as she was stopped in the semi-finals by Assam's Krishna Deka Raja, who came from behind to score a 7-11, 11-6, 11-5 victory.
In the title match, Krishna Deka will take on third seeded Maharashtrian Trupti Murgunde, who defeated Neha Makwana 11-8, 11-4 in the other semi-final.
