Rediff
Germany, Oct 6: It was a memorable day for the Indian badminton as Chetan Anand became the first Indian to win men's singles title in a Grand Prix event and the pair of V Diju and Jwala Gutta claimed the honours in the mixed doubles event in the Bitburger Open 2008 in Germany on Sunday.
Fourth seed Chetan beat compatriot seventh seed Arvind Bhat 23-25, 24-22, 23-21 in an all Indian battle in the final, lasting exactly one hour.
However, it was the pair of V Diju and Jwala Gutta who wrote the history first, as early in the day they defeated eighth seed Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen of Denmark in the final.
The Indian duo rallied back brilliantly after losing the first game to win 8-21, 21-17, 22-20 in 48-minutes.
Chetan was off to a good start but lost the plot in the end as the opening game slipped out of his fingers.
However, the national champion was in no mood to throw the towel and made a spectacular comeback to win the next game 24-22.
In the third game he was again trailing 14-19 but the world number 30 got his act together and scored six consecutive points before sealing the fiercely fought 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 at the end," Chetan said after the match.
Pondering over the match, the 28-year-old shuttler 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.
"He was in a hurry in the third game, his smashes were off target and he came under pressure, I guess my experience helped me to sail through."
Earlier, V Diju and Jwala Gutta also became the first Indian mixed doubles pair to win a Grand Prix event.
The Indian duo 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 game 22-20.
"Becoming the first Indian mixed doubles pair to win a Grand Prix is an amazing feeling. I feel it is one of the best win ever for me," Jwala Gutta said.
"We got confused in the first game as Viju is left-handed but we combined well and did not make much mistakes there after. I think this win will shut up our critics now," she said.
Meanwhile, in the women's single, Aditi Mutatkar had a bad day in office as she was defeated 22-24, 21-8, 23-21 by Maria Febe Kusumastuti of Indonesia in the final.