39th ISC APEX Open badminton tournament is coming to a close with as many as 10 finals and Men and Masters semifinals were completed in front of enthusiastic crowd till late night.
The day started with the under 12 girl’s finals. Young Abu Dhabi girl, Sreeyuktha Sreejith was no match for Reem Siraj from Sharjah. Reem Siraj won in straight sets (21-09, 21-15). Her elder sister Sara Siraj tamed Nida Najeeb to lift the Ladies singles title (21-7, 21-14). Whereas Sara Siraj couldnot maintain the winning streak in the Under 15 Girls Singles category. This time Tanisha Crasto took a sweet revenge on Sara Siraj and won the duel in three sets (21-13, 17-21, 21-19). It was a clash between two close friends in the circuit. In the badminton court they fought for each and every point with true sportsmanship and with complete support of the spectators.
In the Men singles, defending runners up Munais Mohammed had little difficulty in overcoming the local man Vinod Kumar in straight sets (21-16, 21-15). In the finals he will meet Imam Adi Kusuma, an Indonesian ranked player, who won against defending champion Indonesian Dea Adi Ranga. Imam showed excellent control over the complete match and won rather easily (21-19, 21-10).
Munais Mohammed will have a chance of a double, when he takes on Imam, his partner in the doubles, in the finals of the final in Men Singles and Doubles.
In the Veteran singles category, it was like clash of the titans, between Xavier Raphael and James Varghese, which went on to three sets. Xavier Raphael eventually won (15-21, 23-16, 21-12), where James will have chance to settle score with Xavier in Master Singles Finals on Friday.
Xavier Raphael has chance for a triple crown, when he and P. K. Rafeeq take on their arch rivals and former champions James Varghese and Sajayan Balan in Masters Doubles and James Varghese in Masters Singles.
In a thrilling Men Doubles Semifinal match, Alfas Kalam/Waqas Ahmed pair upset defending Men Doubles Champion Rakesh Ramakrishnan teamed with Raghav Bhatt in 3 sets, which lasted one hour. Score (24-22, 16-21, 21-13).
Super Veteran Doubles title clash was decided by three setter and seasoned pair of Abdul Salam and Nazir Dean defeated experienced Abdul Latheef & Musthafa K. (21-23, 21-16, 21-7), whereas Abdul Latheef took revenge when he paired with Bhaval Das and defeated the duo (Abdul Salam and Nazir Dean) in another three thrilling sets in Senior Veteran doubles category (16-21, 21-14, 21-17).
Results (14/01/2016):
Finals:
Girls Singles Under 12
Reem Siraj bt Sreeyuktha Sreejith (21-9, 21-15)
Girls Singles Under 15
Tanisha Crasto bt Sara Siraj (21-13, 17-21, 21-19)
Girls Doubles Under 15
Nida Najeeb/Evana Bose bt Arthi Varshini/Sreenithi Jayakumar (21-12, 21-9)
Ladies Singles
Sara Siraj bt Nida Najeeb (21-7, 21-14)
Veteran Singles
Xavier Raphael bt James Varghese (15-21, 21-16, 21-12)
Senior Veteran Doubles (above 50 years)
Abdul Latheef/Bhaval Das bt Abdul Salam/Nazir Dean (16-21, 21-14, 21-17)
Super Veteran Doubles (above 55 years)
Abdul Salam/Nazir Dean bt Abdul Latheef/Musthafa K. (21-23, 21-16, 21-7)
Semi Finals:
Men Singles
Munais Mohammed bt Vinod Kumar (21-16, 21-15)
Imam Adi Kusuma bt Dea Adi Rangga (21-19, 21-10)
Men Doubles
Alfas Kalam/Waqas Ahmed bt Rakesh Ramakrishnan/Raghav Bhatt (24-22, 16-21, 21-13)
Munais Mohammed/Imam Adi Kusuma bt Avinash S. Kumar/Vinod Kumar (21-15, 21-16)
Masters Doubles
James Varghese/Sajayan Balan bt Mohammed Shanavas/Arun Kelangath (23-21, 21-16)
Xavier Raphel/Rafeeq P K bt Reji Thomas/Shiraz Mohammmed (21-15, 21-14)
