Lakshya, Ashmita clinch singles titles in Tata Open

Rising Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen avenged his defeat in last month's World Juniors final in style with a straight-game victory over Thailand's Kunlavat Vitidsarn to lift the men's singles title in the Tata Open India International Challenger here on Sunday.

Sen, beaten in three games in the final by the Thai who was the defending champion in the world juniors in Canada last month, came out with all guns blazing to chalk out an impressive 21-15, 21-10 victory in just 35 minutes in a lop- sided final at the Cricket Club of India's courts.

In the all-Indian women's singles final, qualifier Ashmita Chaliha outclassed her eighth-seeded opponent Vrushali Gummadi 21-16, 21-13 in half an hour to lift her first international crown.

Left-handed Ashmita had dumped top seed Ksenia Polikarpova of Israel and fourth seed Chananchida Jucharoen of Thailand on way to the summit contest in which she blew away Vrushali with her speed and aggression.

The men's final was a grudge match and was expected to be no-holds-barred contest, but the 17-year-old Almora-born Sen - a trainee at the Prakash Padukone academy in Bengaluru
Results (all finals):
Mixed doubles: 2-Nipitphon Phuangphuapet/Savitree Amitrapai (THA) bt 1-Chang Tak Ching/Ng Wing Yung (HKG) 21-13, 21-16