Basel: Nearly 8 months after his recurring heel injury, former World No. 2 Jan Jorgensen of Denmark didn’t come away from the 2018 Swiss Open final on a positive note as he blew his chances to beat India’s No. 2 seed Sameer Verma by going down 15-21, 13-21 in 36 minutes.
The World No. 46 Verma who won the 2017 Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold and had reached the 2016 Hong Kong Open Super Series final, was obviously quicker than the 30-year-old Jorgensen in the final. After trailing 7-11 in the first set, the Dane was trying to play more aggressively. However, Verma’s strong defense forced Jorgensen to fight extra hard for every point. Verma went on to win the first set 21-15.
Jorgensen was trying to give everything he has left in the second set. He played with more enthusiasm and quicker pace and showed a glimpse of hope of potentially winning the second set. However, Verma proved too strong and physically more dominant for Jorgensen, beating the Dane 21-13 to win his first title of the year.
Verma, who won the 2017 Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold and reach the 2016 Hong Kong Super Series final, became the third Indian men’s singles player after Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy, who had won in 2015 and 2016, to lift the title.
In the Swiss Open quarter-finals, Verma had gotten the better of another former world number 2 Kento Momota of Japan on Friday.
The women’s singles competition saw No. 1 seed Sayaka Takahashi overcame compatriot Natsuki Nidaira 21-12, 21-18 to win the women’s singles title and prize money of $11,250.
The Swiss Open was a Super 300 level tournament and offered total prize money of USD 150,000.
