Verma clinches Vietnam Open, year’s third title

HO CHI MINH CITY: India’s Sourabh Verma registered a thrilling three-game win over China’s Sun Fei Xiang to claim the men’s singles title at the $75,000 Vietnam Open BWF Tour Super 100 badminton tournament on Sunday. Second seed Verma, who has won the Hyderabad Open and Slovenian International earlier this year, recovered from a mid-game slump to beat Sun 21-12 17-21 21-14 in the final of an hour and 12 minutes.

“I am very happy with the way I played. I played three Japanese and these players have similar kind of style. Most like to attack and the little differences in their style is something you have to figure out on the court. So it was nice to beat them,” Verma said.

He beat three Japanese shuttlers—kodai Naraoka, Yu Igarashi and Minoru Koga—on way to his title. “The final was a tough one but I am happy I could play my game and come out victorious. This will give a boost to my confidence,” the 26-year-old from Madhya Pradesh said.

It was a third career meeting between Verma and Sun. The duo has faced off twice this year at Canada and Hyderabad with the Indian coming up trumps on both the occasions. Talking about the final, the world No 38

said: “In the first game, I waited for his weak returns. I realised his defence was a little weak, so I looked to exploit that. He committed too many unforced errors and it helped me. In the second game, I was troubled by the drift from one side and he jumped into a huge lead.

“But after the change of side in the decider, I went back to the strategy that worked for me and I am happy I could win,” added the national champion.

In the finals, Verma dominated the proceedings in the opening game as he jumped to a 4-0 lead early on and kept moving ahead. He enjoyed a 11-4 cushion at the break and surged to a 15-4 advantage after the breather.

Sun tried to recover but the

gap was too wide to be bridged as Verma pocketed the first game comfortably.

The Chinese came out all guns blazing in the second game, zooming to a 8-0 lead. He lead 11-5 at the interval and even though the Indian tried to make a comeback, it proved an uphill task as Sun roared back into the contest.

In the decider, Sun had a slender 4-2 lead initially but Verma ensured he enjoyed 11-7 advantage at the breather. The Indian then maintained his lead, despite the Chinese snapping at his heels. Leading 17-14, Sourabh blasted off the next four points to shut the door on his opponent and win his third title of the year.

Verma had won the Dutch Open and Korea Open last year.