Titles for Saroj and Vijay

Saroj’s consistent play gave Nimisha run for her money in the second game, and she was 4-1 up when the match was seven minutes old. Another two telling smashes gave Haryana shuttler 6-point lead (7-1).

From then on it was Saroj all over as UP’s shuttler moved with leaden foot on the court.

Nimisha, however, made her presence felt in the later part of the contest and both the players were engaged in long rallies. She also reduced the margin 8-3. That, however, did not deter Saroj, who picked up two successive points to make it 10-3.

At a crucial juncture Nimisha’s poor judgment of the flight dashed her hopes to narrow the margin and Saroj’s drop shot sealed her fate 11-4.

Veteran singles also proved to be one-sided affair, TK Dogra moved with lighting speed on the court and dominated the proceeding from the word go. He lost two points only in the first game 15-2, itself is a testimony of his supremacy in the match.

The second game was also a repetition of the first, Dogra conceded two points 15-2, to wrap up the contest in 23 minutes.

In the absence of defending champion Raj Sharma (Delhi) his team mate Vijay Shamra was given top billing in the men’s section, he, however, kept that intact by demolishing his opponent Deepak Saxena (UP) 15-5, 15-10, in over 18 minutes to wear the men’s singles crown.

Winner and runner-up in all the three categories will participate in the All India Audit and Accounts badminton tournament to be held at Hyderabad in March.