New York : After years of struggle, Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy finally reached the summit clash of a Grand Prix Gold event only to lose the men’s doubles final of the US Open in straight games to Chinese pair of Junhui Li and Yuchen Liu here.
Though at World No.26, the Indian pair was ranked higher than their opponents (No.29). The Chinese combine’s skill, speed and agility proved far better as they won 21-12, 21-16 in just over half an hour to clinch the title at the Suffolk County Community College on Sunday.
Nevertheless, the finish is likely to take Manu and Sumeeth in the top-25 when the Badminton World Federation (BWF) releases its rankings come Thursday.
The Indian combine played pretty well at the start when they led 6-2 in the first game. Li and Liu came back to go ahead but Manu and Sumeeth regained the lead at 12-11. However, the Chinese suddenly found legs to incredibly notch the next 10 points and win the first game.
The second game proved worse for Manu and Sumeeth as they were down 11-20 in no time. They saved five match points but it was a little too much too expect them to save all as Li and Liu finished it off on their sixth attempt to clinch the crown. —IANS
