I DID IT: Thomas Kurien got the better of Anand Pawar to win the men's singles title at the Siri Fort Sports Complex in New Delhi. — Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

NEW DELHI: The youth of Saina Nehwal and the experience of Thomas Kurien came good when it mattered the most and provided a fitting finale to the Asian Satellite Badminton championship at the Siri Fort indoor stadium here on Sunday.

Fifteen-year old Saina, who is growing up in the badminton world by idolising Aparna Popat, pulled off a stunning 11-8, 11-6 victory over the eight-time National champion to lived up to the expectations of her mentors Mohammad Arif and P. Gopi Chand.

The women's title in only her third international appearance in the senior ranks was the reward for Saina, who holds the promise to take over the mantle from Aparna for years to come. If Saina's display on Sunday was any indication, the process of the change of guard has commenced.

Aparna, whose last loss to a fellow Indian came in the 2001 National inter-state championship at Jaipur when she went down to G. Jwala at Jaipur, looked too tense and did not move well on this day.

Saina repeatedly caught Aparna slow in retrieving her half-smashes. It was not surprising when Aparna erred one last time at the net on match point. Saina, who lost to Aparna in the semifinal of the 2004 National championship and in the final this year, said it was a great day for her because she had won against a player she admires so much.

"Aparna is a great player and I grew up watching her. For me, beating Aparna is almost unbelievable. Today, the pressure was on Aparna and I played freely. I know I played well. But I still have to improve my speed and stamina in order to move to a higher level," said the Hyderabad girl.

Jubilant

Minutes after the final, speaking to The Hindu from Hyderabad, Mohammad Arif and Gopi Chand were jubilant on Saina's special victory.

"She is a fine prospect with a lot of potential," said Arif under whose supervision Saina blossomed before moving to Gopi Chand's Academy. "I am sure she is going to serve the nation for many years," he said.

Gopi was no less excited on Saina's triumph. "I think Saina made Aparna move a lot more today than what other girls have managed in the past. Aparna was good at the net but lacked the speed today to match Saina," was Gopi's observation.

Aparna started well by taking a 4-0 lead before Saina got going. She led up to 6-4 but thereafter Saina reeled off six points from seven serving opportunities and went on to convert her third game point.

In the second game, it was Saina who led 3-0 before Aparna made it 5-3. This game saw longer rallies with Saina's toss-and-drop routine working more effectively. With Aparna faltering often on the forecourt, Saina built a 10-5 lead. A fighting Aparna saved four match points but netted a return to suffer a rare defeat.

Before Saina came out stronger in the 21-minute final, Kurien used all his experience to squash the bid of young challenger Anand Pawar for his first major senior title. After sealing the hard-earned 10-15, 15-5, 15-10 victory in just under an hour, an otherwise introvert Kurien came up with a child-like backward flip that looked more as an afterthought for the sake of television than as a spontaneous gesture of joy.

Nevertheless, Kurien, a former National junior champion, deserved his moment that came after years of being in the shadows of the more accomplished names like Chetan Anand, Nikhil Kanetkar and later Arvind Bhat and Anup Sridhar. Kurien, who looked in control of all three games, was surprised by Anand's unbroken sequence of 10 points that saw him pull away from 5-10 to snatch the first game.

In the second, Kurien's defence came good and rendered Anand's power play ineffective. From a quick 4-0 lead, Kurien enlarged his advantage to 9-1 before winning five points on the trot to make it 14-3 and converted the second game point. In the decider, once again it was Kurien who was first off the blocks. He led 5-0 and stayed comfortably ahead throughout. He converted his first match point when Anand's backhand flick went long.

Later, top seeds Sanave Thomas and Rupesh Kumar won the men's doubles by stopping Jaseel P. Ismail and V. Diju.

The results (finals): Men's singles: Thomas Kurien bt Anand Pawar 10-15, 15-5, 15-10.

Doubles: Sanave Thomas and Rupesh Kumar bt Jaseel P. Ismail and V. Diju 17-14, 15-7.

Women's singles: Saina Nehwal bt Aparna Popat 11-8, 11-6.

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