Sourabh, Uttejitha emerge winners in All India Senior Ranking tournament

Former national champion Sourabh Verma and young Sai Uttejitha Rao clinched the men's singles and women's singles titles respectively at the All India senior ranking tournament here today.

Sourabh, who is coming back from an injury, registered a stunning comeback victory over top seed Pratul Joshi, while Uttejitha Rao recorded a scintillating upset victory over multiple International Challenge series winner Rituparna Das in the finals.

Sourabh, who won the 2016 Chinese Taipei Masters, went down 17-21 in the opening game but came back strong in the second game to win 21-14. With the match tied 1-1, Sourabh brought all his experience into play and won the decider 21-18 to seal the match in an hour and 12 minutes.

Second seeded Uttejitha Rao won the opening game 21-15 but was completely outclassed in the second game, losing 7-21. But the Andhra shuttler held on to her nerves in the final game and outplayed Rituparna 21-15 to win the title.

Earlier, Dhruv Kapila and Meghana Jakkampudi got the better of the pair of Arun George and Arathi Sara Sunil 19-21, 21-14, 21-18 in 50 minutes to win the mixed doubles competition.

Young pair of Rutuparna Panda and Aratha Sara Sunil pairing up for the first time picked up an easy 21-10, 21-12 victory in just 32 minutes over Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker to clinch the women's doubles title, while the duo of Arjun M.R and Shlok Ramachandran outplayed Krishna Prasad G and Dhruv Kapila 21-14, 21-16 in 32 minutes to take home the men's doubles title.

A total of five lakh rupees was doled out as prize money by Badminton Association of India (BAI) for the winners. This tournament will serve as a qualification for the Asian Games.

Results: XD Dhruv Kapila/Meghana Jakkampudi bt Arun George/Aratha Sara Sunil 19-21, 21-12, 21-9, WS Sai Uttejitha Rao [2] bt Rituparna Das 21-15, 7-21, 21-15, MS Sourabh Verma bt Pratul Joshi [1] 17-21, 21-14, 21-18, WD Rutuparna Panda/Aratha Sara Sunil bt Simran Singhi/Ritika Thaker 21-10, 21-12, MD - Arjun M.R/Shlok Ramachandran bt Krishna Prasad G/Dhruv Kapila 21-14, 21-16.