***image taken from India Today
India's 16th ranked Sameer Verma was one happy man in the USD150,000 Syed Modi International Badminton Championships which ended in Lucknow, India on Sunday.
It was a double celebration for the Indian who not only retained his title in the championships but more importantly, he garnered enough points to book his place for the season-ending HSBC BWF World Tour Finals in Guangzhou, China.
The World Tour Finals offers USD1.5 million in prize money and will be held in the Chinese city from Dec 12-16.
Third seed Sameer, however, was staring at defeat in the final against China's sixth seed Lu Guangzu after losing the first game 16-21.
However, with the home fans cheering him on the Indian forced a decider by taking the second game 21-19 and finished off Guangzu in the third game with a 21-14 win after an epic 70-minute battle.
Sameer's win also lifted the gloom in the Indian camp after their men's doubles hope Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, the No 8 seeds fell to Indonesian fourth seeds and 7th ranked Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto in straight games 11-21, 20-22 in the final.
There was more disappointment for India when former world number one Saina Nehwal slumped to a shock defeat in the women's singled final.
The second-seeded Nehwal ranked nine, went down tamely 18-21, 8-21 to China's fourth seed Han Yue.
It was a sad day for India in the finals as they also lost the women's doubles final when Ashwini Ponnappa-N. Sikki Reddy failed to raise their game and went down to Malaysia's Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean 15-21, 21-13 in 42 minutes.
It was the first World Tour title for the third-seeded Malaysians, ranked No 19, who finished runners-up in the Russian Open in Vladivostok in July.
China won two titles in Lucknow. Apart from the women's singles, China also won the mixed doubles through Ou Xuanyi-Feng Xueying who upset fourth seeds Rinov Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas Mentari of Indonesia 22-20, 21-10 in the final.
RESULTS (ALL FINALS)
Mixed doubles
Ou Xuanyi-Feng Xueying (CHN) beat Rinov Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas Mentari (INA) 22-20, 21-10
Men's doubles
Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto (INA) beat Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (IND) 21-11, 22-20
Women's singles
Han Yue (CHN) beat Saina Nehwal (IND) 21-18, 21-8
Women's doubles
Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean (MAS) beat Ashwini Ponnappa-N. Sikki Reddy (IND)21-15, 21-13
Men's singles
Sameer Verma (IND) beat Lu Guangzu (CHN) 16-21, 21-19, 21-14
