Chetan Anand

New Delhi: It was a glorious day for Indian badminton as Chetan Anand won his maiden singles title in a Grand Prix event and the pair of V. Diju and Jwala Gutta claimed the honours in the mixed doubles in the Bitburger Open in Germany on Sunday.

According to information received here, the fourth-seeded Anand defeated compatriot Arvind Bhat, seeded seventh, 23-25, 24-22, 23-21 in an all-Indian battle in the final, lasting exactly an hour.

Earlier in the day, the pair of Diju and Gutta defeated eighth seeds Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen of Denmark 8-21, 21-17, 22-20 in 48-minutes.

Chetan was off to a good start but lost the plot in the opening game. However, the national champion made a spectacular comeback to win the next game 24-22. In the third, he was again trailing 14-19 but the world No. 30 got his act together and scored six consecutive points before sealing the game 23-21.

“It is the most satisfying moment for me after the Commonwealth bronze medal. It was a great win. I was ready to play long matches and kept my patience and pulled it off in the end,” Chetan said after the match.

The 28-year-old shuttler, however, said that he was not completely happy with his effort.

“I don’t think I played my best. In the first game it was 20-19 but I could not get it through. In the second game also I was down but got it right at the end but the most crucial moment for me was the third game, when it was 19-14 and I played some flick shots and pulled it off,” he said.

“Bhat was in a hurry in the third game. His smashes were off target and he came under pressure. I guess my experience helped me sail through.”

Diju and Gutta overcame a disastrous start as they lost the first game 8-21 but held their nerves and rallied to pocket the second game 21-17 and then clinched the issue by winning the third 22-20.

“It is one of the best wins ever for me,” Gutta said. “We got confused in the first game as Viju is left-handed but we combined well and did not make much mistakes thereafter. I hope this win will shut up our critics now,” she said.

Meanwhile, in women’s singles final, Aditi Mutatkar was defeated 22-24, 21-8, 23-21 by Maria Febe Kusumastuti of Indonesia in 49 minutes.