He had to beat the defending champion and last year’s runner-up both if he wanted to lay his hand on the singles trophy. Vijay Sant of Loksatta did more than that with consummate ease not only to pocket the singles title but also win the doubles crown. After missing the last edition Sant made his re-entry into the Badminton Tournament for Mediapersons a memorable one with this double whammy.Sant set the Subhedar Hall wooden courts on fire on Sunday in the tournament organised by Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur (SJAN) in co-operation with the Post Graduate Teaching Department of Physical Education, RTM Nagpur University.Sant, who employed deft drop shots and power-packed smashes, tamed defending champion Ashish Jain of Lokmat 21-14, 21-11 in the singles final giving the title favourite no chance of any comeback.Later partnering veteran Vivek Puradbhat, Sant rallied brilliantly to upset the top seeded combination of Jain-Manish Charpe 18-21, 21-17, 21-18 in a thrilling doubles summit clash.Both the singles finalists had straight games wins in their semi-finals. Sant beat a hard-working Suhas Nayse, runner-up of the last edition, 21-11, 21-18 while Jain defeated colleague Vilas Tijare 21-12, 21-17.Meenakshi Menon consoled her Lokmat mates by winning the women’s title. In a closely-fought final, Menon edged past Rakhi Chavan of Loksatta 21-17, 21-18.Earlier in the men’s doubles semi-finals, The Hitavada’s pair of Anupam Soni and Hitesh Limbachia lost to Jain-Charpe 14-21, 6-21 while Sant-Puradbhat had the better of Nayse and Sarabjeet Ahluwalia 21-13, 14-21, 21-13.Krishnarao Pandav, President, Sanmarg Shikshan Sanstha was the chief guest at the prize distribution function. Navneet Singh Tuli, Director, Gurunanak College of Engineering, Dahegaon was the guest of honour. SJAN vice-president Naresh Shelke conducted the proceedings while joint secretary Kishor Bagde proposed a vote of thanks.
Report and pic courtesy The Hitavada