Beats Arvind Bhat to win four-star Bitburger Open, while wife Jwala Gutta wins in mixed doubles
MUMBAI: An all Indian final at the Bitburger Open saw Chetan Anand beat Arvind Bhat in a closely fought clash. Chetan prevailed 23-25, 24-22, 23-21. Chetan, who was trailing 14-19 in the third game, fought back bravely to prevail. “This is my biggest win till date. It is a four-star Grand Prix event. I didn’t play well in the first game and conceded the advantage to Arvind. Otherwise the game wouldn’t have been this close,” Chetan told DNA after the win.
Incidentally, this is his fifth title of the year. He missed out on a chance of playing in the Beijing Olympics after a row with the Badminton Association of India (BAI) hampered his preparations and his rankings slipped. However, now ranked at No.30 in the world, Chetan is experiencing the form of his life.
In all three games he had to rally from behind. Chetan will now participate in the Dutch Open, the Danish Open and the French Super Series.
The Danish Open is also a Super Series event, one that Chetan wants to win. For Chetan, it was double the joy on Sunday as wife Jwala Gutta won the mixed doubles event with Diju Valiyaveetil. They beat the eight-seeded pair of Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen 8-21, 21-17, 22-20.
Aditi Mutatkar missed out on becoming only the second Indian woman to win a Grand Prix event after Saina Nehwal, when she went down to Maria Febe Kusumastuti 22-24, 21-8, 23-21.
