Lancy, Aparna bag gold

In the first game, Lancy took a 4-0 lead and later increased it to 12-4 but errors flowed from his racquet as Bakshi got some leeway. Lancy’s net game failed as Bakshi took advantage and won the game 15-12.

Lancy, 22, a trainee at the BPL-Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, kept his opponent away from the net in the second game, pinning Bakshi down to the baseline to win the game 15-12.

A former junior National champion, Lancy increased the pace in the decider. He took a 11-1 lead, which Bakshi failed to reduce. Lancy won the decider 15-8.

After the match, Lancy said, “I had a good chance to win the first game, when I was leading 12-4 but the change of shuttle, which was a bit fast, did me in.”

In the Aparna-Lakshmi match, Lakshmi tried to get points from Aparna’s backhand but in the process committed unforced errors. Aparna won the first game with ease 11-1 but it was a neck-and-neck affair in the second game till 7-7. Lakshmi’s error in judgement at this crucial point cost her the game as she lost 7-11.

Lakshmi, however, had a taste of success when she and sister PV Sarada won the women’s doubles. The duo routed Larisa Sadrangani (Maharashtra) and Neelima Chaudhary (AP) 15-1, 15-1. The men’s doubles title was won by top seeds Jaseel P Ismail (Kerala) and Vijaydeep Singh (Punjab). They defeated Bhushan Akut (Maharashtra) and Vinod Kumar (Kerala) 15-10, 14-15, 15-8.