Qualifier Ashmita Chaliha took down eighth seed G. Vrushali in the women's singles final of the Tata Open India International Challenge. Ashmita unsettled her rival with variations in pace to win 21-16, 21-13 in just 30 minutes.
In the men's final Lakshya Sen took apart highly-rated Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-15, 21-10 to take the crown.
"Winning a senior final in an international tournament is very big for me," said Ashmita, for whom the Assam Sports Council contracted Edwin Irawan from Indonesia to train her.
The support group for Ashmita is her father and cousin, also a player. The foreign coach does not travel with the left-hander. "I have learnt to work out my own tactics and change my game as the match progresses," she said.
Anti-climax
The men's final turned out to be an anti-climax with Vitidsarn committing plenty of errors.
Meeting the Indian for the third time this season (Asian juniors final, World juniors semifinal), the Thailand player was not able to get fast returns across the net.
Lakshya finished off points with angled returns, a different ploy from the stinging smashes he had employed to subdue rivals till the final.
The Indian, a finalist last year, won his first Tata Open title on the second appearance.
The results (finals):
Men: Lakshya Sen bt Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) 21-15, 21-10.
Doubles: M.R. Arjun & Sumeeth Reddy bt Goh Se Fei & Nur Izzuddin (Mal) 21-10, 21-16.
Women: Ashmita Chaliha bt G. Vrushali 21-16, 21-13.
Doubles: Ning Wing Yung & Yeung Nga Ting (Sin) bt J. Meghana & Poorvisha Ram 21-10, 21-11.
Mixed doubles: Nipitporn Phuangphuapet & Savitree Amitrapai (Tha) bt Chang Tak Ching & Ng Wing Yung (Sin) 21-13, 21-16.
