Kashyap, Sayali are national champions

P Kashyap’s trophy cabinet had many medals to show off. But the missing senior national title had been bothering the London Olympic quarterfinalists for far too long. But after today, the 26-year-old can breathe easy.
The Gopichand Academy trainee carved his name on the Vikas Topiwala Challenge Cup with an emphatic 21-18, 21-17 victory over Ajay Jayaram in the men’s singles final of the 77th Senior National Badminton championship here.
The Men’s singles final turned out to be a one-way affair with a spirited Kashyap continuing to display the same form that had helped him demolish his opponent in the semifinal. He was aggressive and went for the kill whenever the opportunity presented itself and never allowed Ajay to get any opportunity to stage a comeback.
“It is a big relief. I wanted to win this title for so many years and it’s a big burden off my shoulder now that I have won it. Ajay has had a fantastic tournament this week, but I was confident of winning. My heath gave me some trouble initially but that didn't affect me today,” said Kashyap, who had previously lost in two finals to Aravind Bhat.
In the women’s singles, Sayali Gokhale got the better of defending champion PV Sindhu 21-15, 15-21, 21-15 to regain the title she had won four years ago.
It was an absorbing affair with the tenacious Sayali maintaining her intensity throughout the one hour 15 minute encounter, thereby pushing Sindhu to the brink.
Sindhu, who had been carrying a knee injury in the tournament, was sluggish in her movements and that Sayali capitalised on that with some deft crosscourt smashes and pushes.
“I knew she was not 100 per cent. Despite that, I went into the match without much expectations and I feel that helped,” said the Pune girl, who had lost to Sindhu in the final of the Tata Open International series tournament in December last year.

Results (final):

Men: Singles: P Kashyap (PSPB) bt Ajay Jayaram (PSPB) 21-18, 21-17
Doubles: B Sumeet Reddy/Manu Attri (AAI) bt Akshay Dewalkar (AI)/Pranav Chopra (PSPB) 10-21, 21-14, 21-12
Women: Singles: Sayali Gokhale (AI) bt PV Sindhu (PSPB) 21-15, 15-21, 21-15
Doubles: Aparna Balan/Sikki Reddy bt Varsha Belawadi/GM Nischitha 21-11, 21-13
Mixed doubles: Aparna Balan/Arun Vishnu bt Ashwini Ponnappa/Tarun Kona 21-13, 18-21, 21-15