Indian shuttler Sourabh Varmas dream run at the Syed Modi Memorial Grand Prix Gold tournament came to an end as he went down fighting in the final encounter. Second seed Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia beat the 20-year-old from Madhya Pradesh 21-15,21-18 in a battle that lasted a little over three-fourths of an hour,in Lucknow on Sunday. Despite the straight-game reversal for unseeded Sourabh,the match proved to be a thriller. The scores were levelled six times during the first game and ten times during the second game. Sourabh looked quite composed in the first game and was even in the lead. Up 8-2 and in a position to force the issue,Sourabh conceded ground as Taufik rallied strongly. The scores were soon levelled,and it stayed neck and neck till late in the game. It was Taufik again who took charge,adding to his advantage from 16-15 to pocket the game winning six points in a row. In the second game also Sourabh held the lead on a couple of instances only for Taufik to come back and take control,as he won a tight exchange 21-18. Speaking after the match,Sourabh said,It was a tough match but I tried to play my best. Playing against Taufik was a dream come true but I am a little disappointed as I was leading in the second game at one point but could not win it. Taufik too had a word of praise for the Indian. Sourabh is a good player. He has got the strokes to play better in the times to come. The womens division witnessed its second major pull out as second seed Porntip Buranaprasertsuk opted out of the all-Thailand final due to an upset stomach. With her exit,Inthanon Ratchanok got a walkover. Earlier,mens singles top seed Simon Santoso of Indonesia had pulled out after two rounds due to a bout of cold,as did Saina Nehwal who skipped the tournament entirely. In the mixed doubles finals,Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam of Thailand who were the top seeds defeated Muhammad Rijal and Debby Susanto of Indonesia 16-21,21-18,21-11 in a matter of 58 minutes. The womens doubles crown went to Shinta Mulia Sari and Lei Yao of Singapore who upset top seeds Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna of Japan 21-17,21-18 in a matter of 48 minutes. In the mens doubles,Naoki Kawamae and Shoji Sato of Japan (seed-1) beat Andrei Adistia and Christopher Rusdianto of Indonesia 21-17,12-21,23-21 in 54 minutes. Impressive prize money The tournament carried a total prize money of US$120,000. The winners of the mens singles and the womens singles events became richer by US$ 9,000 while winning pairs of the mens doubles,womens doubles and the mixed doubles events were awarded a sum of US$ 9,480 each. The runners-up of all the five events bagged a prize money of US$ 4,560 each. The semi-finalists,the quarter-finalists and the pre-quarterfinalists were also given prize money. Celebrations galore Before the mens singles final,Christmas fever gripped the UP Badminton Academy. As soon as the song Jingle bells,jingle bells. was played,a man dressed as Santa Claus entered the badminton hall dancing on the song. The idea was a big hit among those who had come with their children and Santa also obliged them by shaking hands with them and giving them sweets. Crowd puller The Syed Modi Memorial Grand Prix Gold badminton championships proved to be a good crowd puller. The entire area meant for the spectators was packed to the fullest. Waving the tri-colour,people cheered Sourabh for every point he scored. However,displaying a sporting spirit,the spectators gave huge round of applause when Taufik won the match.
