India’s 19-year-old shuttler Ruthvika Shivani Gadde won the women’s singles title at the Russian Open in Vladivostok . Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy added to India’s tally by winning the mixed doubles title at the event. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Siril Verma lost out on the gold medal after a three-set defeat to the top-seeded Malaysian Zulfadli Zulkiffli.

• Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy added to India’s tally by winning the mixed doubles title. The second seeds prevailed 21-17, 21-19 over the Russian team of Vladimir Ivanov and Valeria Sorokina in a tightly-contested final that lasted 32 minutes.
• Ivanov and Sorokina had toppled the top seeds Evgenij Dremin and Evgenia Dimova in straight games in the semi-finals but they ran out of steam against the experienced Indian pair in the summit clash.
• However, there was disappointment in the men’s singles as young talent Siril Verma could not match the feats of his compatriots. The 17-year-old went down fighting 21-16, 19-21, 10-21 to the top seed Zulfadli Zulkiffli of Malaysia.
• The results at the Russian Grand Prix totally establish that India’s future in badminton looks bright.
• Verma has been a prolific junior and has even been ranked No. 1. In November, he became the first Indian to reach the final of the World Junior Championships after Saina Nehwal in 2008.