When 21-year-old Sameer Verma hit the winning point to bag the men's singles title of the Tata Open International Challenge at the CCI courts in Mumbai on Sunday, he didn't yell out in excitement. Why, he didn't even raise his fist to celebrate his 21-11 21-18 win. Reason? The person he beat was his elder brother Sourabh.
"How could I celebrate?" Sameer told dna after taking just 26 minutes to wrap up the game. "He's my brother, my support. We're best friends. What's more nerve-wrecking than a final is playing it against your own brother."
With top seeds Sai Praneeth and RMV Gurusaidutt pulling out before the start of the tournament, the baton to keep the Indian flag high rested on Sameer. And he did it in style. Sameer's only real test of the tournament came in the semifinal when he defeated fifth seed Joo Ven Soong of Malaysia 21-11 15-9 when Soong retired. Sourabh, too, faced a tough test but stunned eighth-seed Lim Chi Bing 21-16 21-13.
In the final, the younger sibling was in control from the word go. After trailing 2-3, he took seven straight points to lead 9-4. Then at 13-7, Sameer was at his aggressive best, taking six straight points to lead 19-8. Sameer played a gem of a shot on the 19th point. He dived to the left to make an excellent return and then played a drop shot to the right to stun his brother. These were just a few moments in an otherwise lop-sided contest for the crowd to cheer.
The second game was tighter, but that was more to do with Sameer's unforced errors than Sourabh's brilliance. The 23-year-old did have the lead at 18-17, but Sameer's routine of drop shot-smash-drop shot was too much for him to handle. On championship point, Sameer played a drop shot and all Sourabh could do was hit it to the net.
"I'm happy for him, he deserved to win," Sourabh said. "He played really well. I'm happy with my performance, considering I'm coming back from an injury (elbow in February and knee in July)."
So did the brothers talk to each other before the game? "No, there's nothing to talk about," said Sameer. "On the court, we're opponents. All we think about is winning the next point."
Chochuwong stuns top seed
In what was the most hard-fought match of the day, 17-year-old Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand rallied to beat top seed Jing Yi Tee of Malaysia 16-21 21-11 21-15 to win the women's singles title.
Asked how she came back after losing the first game, Chochuwong told this paper through a translator: "Losing is what motivates me. I was confident I could beat her. After winning the second game easily, I knew I broke her confidence. I never lost hope."
Chochuwong has set her sights at winning an Olympic gold. "My only aim is to win the Olympics. Though I'm only 17, I know by winning tournaments such as these I can qualify for the 2020 Games in Tokyo. I'll be 21 then, but I feel I'm already ready to play it," she said with a smile.
Results (finals, Indians unless specified): Men's singles: 3-Sameer Verma bt Sourabh Varma 21-11 21-18; Women's singles: 2-Pornpawee Chochuwong (THA) bt 1-Jing Yi Tee (MAS) 16-21 21-11 21-15; Men's doubles: 3-Wannawat Ampunsuwan/Tinn Isriyanate (THA) bt 2-Pranaav Chopra/Akshay Dewalkar 21-14, 21-9; Women's doubles: 1-Chaladchalam Chayanit/Phataimas Muenwong (THA) bt K Maneesha/N Sikki Reddy 21-11 15-21 21-13; Mixed doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/K Maneesha bt 2-Arun Vishnu/Aparna Balan 21-13 21-16
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