India’s Sathish Kumar Karunakaran secured his maiden BWF super 100 title after outwitting world junior championship bronze medallist Ayush Shetty in an all Indian men’s singles final at the Odisha Masters here on Sunday.
The 22-year-old Sathish, who won men’s singles title at India International and had a runner-up finish at Maldives International this season, prevailed 21-18 19-21 21-14 over Ayush in an exciting final.
Indian pair of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila also stood at the podium after winning the mixed doubles title following a thrilling three-game win over Singapore’s Hee Yong Kai Terry and Tan Wei Han Jessica in a pulsating final.
Tanisha, 20, and 23-year-old Dhruv dished out a gallant fight to rally their way to outwit Hee and Tan 17-21 21-19 23-21 in an hour and 14 minutes.
Sathish had come into the final, having beaten Ayush at the Chhattisgarh India International Challenge this season.
However, there was hardly anything to separate the two Indians though Sathish showed better control and won the key moments to move ahead from 13-13 in the opening game.
From 14-18, Ayush tried to fight back but was erratic. Eventually, Sathish pushed one at the forehand corner to take two game points and sealed it with a smash.
Sathish kept the tempo high to eke out a 6-3 lead before staying ahead at 15-13 but Ayush stepped up and grabbed a one game point with a smash and then dominated a flat exchange to take it to the decider.
Ayush fell into a pool of errors as he sprayed into net, smashed out and also made judgement errors to lag 1-7 in the decider. Sathish took a six-point advantage at the interval after his opponent sent another wide.
Ayush’s game fell apart against some relentless hitting from Sathish, who grew in confidence and it showed in his body language.
Sathish moved to nine championship points after Ayush found the nets. He squandered three chances before converting. He threw his racquet in the air in celebration.
Sathish had also won the mixed doubles titles with partner Aadya Variyath at the Maldives International and finished second best at Malaysia. He had also played for Chennai Superstarz in Premier Badminton League in 2020.
Tanisha will again be in action in the women’s doubles final with partner Ashwini Ponnappa taking on the Indonesian combination of Meilysa Trias Puspitasari and Rachel Allessya Rose.
Sixth seeded Indian men’s doubles pair of Krishna Prasad Garaga and Sai Pratheek K also progressed to the final and will face seventh seeded Lin Bing-Wei and Su Ching Heng of Chinese Taipei.
The BWF (Badminton World Federation) World Tour is divided into six levels, namely World Tour Finals, four Super 1000, six Super 750, seven Super 500, and 11 Super 300. One more category of the tournament, the BWF Tour Super 100 level, also offers ranking points.
Each of these tournaments offers different ranking points and prize money. The highest points and prize pool is offered at the Super 1000 level.
