Maiden title for Jacob and Andrea at Kerala State senior badminton championship

Jacob Thomas had beaten the top-seeded K. Govind in a recent ranking tournament but he knew the men’s singles final of the Kerala State senior badminton championship here on Saturday evening would not be easy.

And things appeared to be going Govind’s way when he led 13-9 in the second game but Jacob waited patiently for his opponent to commit mistakes.

“I just wanted to keep the shuttle on court, just wanted to be patient during the long rallies,” said 21-year-old Jacob after winning his maiden State senior title. Ernakulam’s Andrea Sarah Kurien, who had won the under-17 girls title earlier, staved off a late challenge from Alappuzha’s S. Megha, in straight games for her first State women’s title.

Jacob, the second seed, and Govind are both attacking players and the men’s final kept the crowd at the V.K.N. Menon indoor stadium on its feet. And once Jacob got the lead in the second game, he attacked the sidelines and Govind’s backhand to win the bulk of his points. Govind looked rattled after losing the close second game. Sensing this, Jacob came up with some fiery jump smashes and led 15-11 and 20-16 in the decider but still he had to endure a few anxious moments before sealing victory.

With both Andrea and Megha being his trainees at Kochi’s Bright Sports Antony’s Badminton Academy, former Kerala champion Antony K. Jacob stayed away from the coach’s chair.

Andrea cruised through the opening game but she was down 11-16 and 15-19 in the next before making a great recovery to level at 20 and then going on to win.

The talented 16-year-old adopted a push-pull strategy, pushing Megha to the back with her clears and then pulling her to the front with some lovely flicks and hairpin net shots.

The results:

Men’s singles, final: Jacob Thomas bt K. Govind 17-21, 24-22, 21-19. Semifinals: Govind bt Thejas Shivakumar 21-17, 21-16; Jacob bt Shehil Mohammed 21-16, 21-19.

Women’s singles, final: Andrea Sarah Kurien bt S. Megha 21-8, 23-21. Semifinals: Megha bt Meenakshi Vinu 21-10, 15-21, 21-17; Andrea bt T.R. Gowri Krishna 21-10, 21-17.

Doubles (all finals): Men: P.S. Ravikrishna & U. Sankar Prasad bt Aravind V. Suresh (Koz) & E.J. Shivasankar (Tsr) 16-21, 21-10, 21-18.

Women: Archana Varghese & Diya Arun (Ekm) bt C.H. Keerthika & Nayana S. Oasis (Koz) 23-25, 21-18, 21-17.

Mixed: Rohit Jayakumar & Diya Arun (Ekm) bt Manjush Mohan (Tvm) & Archana Varghese (Ekm) 19-21, 21-10, 21-8.