India's third seed Parupalli Kashyap defeated top seed and compatriot Kidambi Srikanth to win the men's singles title of the $120,000 Syed Modi International Badminton Championships on Sunday.
The 2012 edition winner Kashyap beat compatriot and World No.5 Srikanth in two evenly contested games to come out on top 23-21, 23-21 in 52 minutes.
Though the duo have played several matches in the past, this was their first meeting in an official Badminton World Federation (BWF) match played at the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium.
Both the Pullela Gopichand proteges know each other's game pretty well and it was a mental contest of which player had stronger nerves. Eventually, the reigning Commonwealth Games champion came out on top over the reigning national champion.
Earlier on Sunday, World No.3 Saina came out with a stupendous show first to save two matchpoints and, then to defeat reigning World Champion Carolina Marin of Spain to retain the crown she won last year.
The top seeded defending champion outplayed the Spanish World No.7 to win the one-hour and 19-minute marathon final 19-21, 25-23, 21-16 and clinch the Grand Prix Gold crown. With the victory, Saina completed a hat-trick of wins against the second seeded Carolina in as many meetings between them. Also, this is Saina's first title of 2015.
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