Ho Chi Minh City: Indian shuttler Sourabh Verma defeated Sun Fei Xiang of China 21-12, 17-21, 21-14 in the final to win the Vietnam Open BWF Tour Super 100 in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday. The Indian made a confident start in the summit clash as he was 11-4 up at the mid-break of the first game. However, Sun Fei Xiang put up some fight to delay Sourabh Verma’s wait for victory in the first game. Sourabh Verma sealed the first game with ease but faltered in the subsequent game.
Sun Fei Xiang won seven consecutive points to mark his dominance in the second game. He clinched the second game by 21-17 to hand Sourabh his first-ever game loss in the tournament.
The third game was a closely-fought affair with the two players locked at 6-6 but after that Sourabh Verma took the game by the scruff of its neck.
The second-seeded Indian held his nerves to seal the final game 21-14 and clinch the title.
On Saturday, Sourabh had stunned Japan’s Minoru Koga in straight games to book his place in the men’s singles final. The Indian defeated his Japanese opponent 22-20, 21-15 in the semi-final clash, which lasted for 51 minutes.
After getting a bye in the first round, Sourabh Verma — who is the lone Indian in the competition — outlasted Japan’s Kodai Naraoka 22-20, 22-20 in a tight second-round clash.
Naraoka’s compatriot, Yu Igarashi then posed a sterner test to Verma in which the Indian came out with flying colours.
A gruelling 25-23, 24-22 victory sealed the deal for the Indian shuttler and put him in the quarter-finals.
And the last-eight match against home favourite Tien Minh Nguyen turned out to be the easiest for him as he cruised to a 21-13, 21-18 victory on Friday.
