HYDERABAD: Top seeds Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas of India rallied to defeat seventh seed Chris Adcock and Andrew Ellies of England 17-21, 22-20, 24-22 in 67 minutes in the final of the Bitburger Open, Germany. This was their second grand prix doubles title of the year.
Presently ranked 19th in the world, Rupesh and Sanave had won the New Zealand Open badminton tournament in July earlier this year and were runners- up in the Australian Open Grand Prix.
Coach Vimal Kumar said it was a creditable performance. ``It is a good warm up for the Indian pair before the Dutch and Danish Super Series tournaments,” said Vimal.
Vimal said that the Indian pair was somewhat disappointing after the New Zealand Open triumph with series of some mediocre performance.
“They could not carry the momentum after the New Zealand Open. This win would be a sort of confidence booster,’’ he said.
Vimal said the lack of good sparing doubles partners in the country has been hampering Rupesh and Sanave’s progress. “This is a serious handicap.
Therefore it is necessary for them to participate in more tournaments to be more competitive,’’ said Vimal.