Anand Pawar wins Austrian open in style

Bangalore, Feb 24 (UNI) Capping his stupendous run with a title win, 21-year-old Anand Pawar has lifted the Austrian Open Men's singles crown, defeating Ukrainian veteran Vladislav Druzchenko in straight sets in Vienna.

According to information received here, the TATA Padukone Badminton Academy trainee became the second Indian after the late Syed Modi in 1984, to lift the Austrian Open Men's singles title yesterday.

It was a fine win for Anand, ranked 124 in the world as he tamed Vladislav, ranked 60th at present and a former top 15 player.

Coming through the qualifying rounds, Anand was promoted to the main tournament. He had a remarkable run, beating players ranked much above him.

It was significant that Anand, enroute to the title, did not lose a single set. Incidentally, this was his first major international tournament title.

Anand is the son of former Internationals Uday and Sujatha Pawar, The Women's singles title was lifted by Xi Zang of China who beat Anu Nieminen of Finland 19-21, 21-13, 21-9.

Anand's win is bound to push his international ranking up and he is likely to figure in the top hundred.

The Indian star would now take part in the US Dollar 80,000 prize money German Open tournament at Mulheim next week, where he had been promoted to the main draw.

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