Anupama Upadhyaya wins Kazakhstan International Challenge women's singles title

Anupama Upadhyaya clinched the Kazakhstan International Challenge women's singles title on Saturday in Uralsk.

Anupama, ranked 70th in the world, defeated fellow Indian player Isharani Baruah, ranked 90th in the world, in straight games (21-15, 21-16) to clinch the title.

This was Anupama's second successive title in 2024. In March, he won the Polish Open in Warsaw after she beat Tanya Hemanth in a gruelling three-gamer.

Anupama, who won the National Games gold last year, displayed her tremendous control over the net against Isharani as she fetched winners at ease with the net dribble. She also drew Isharani closer to the net, forcing her to lift the shuttle. And that set Anupama for the kill.

The 19-year-old's swift coverage of the court also paid dividends as Isharani, who won the Sri Lanka International Challenge and Forza Dutch international this year, struggled to breach the Delhi shuttler's sturdy defence.

En route to the final, Anupama defeated fifth seed Tereza Svabikova of the Czech Republic in the pre-quarterfinals. In the semifinals, she got better off Japan's Sorano Yoshikawa, who beat Anmol Kharb in the quarterfinal, in straight games.

Meanwhile, in the men's singles final, Tharun Mannepalli beat Soong Joo Ven 21-10, 21-19 to win his maiden international title.

Tharun defeated compatriots Gagan Balyan, 2022 World Junior Championships silver medallist S Sankar Muthusamy, fourth-seeded Dmitriy Panarin of Kazakhstan and seventh seed Le Duc Phat of Vietnam en route to winning the title.

Earlier, Harshitaa Rout and Sruti Swain made a semifinal finish in women's doubles.

In the mixed doubles final, Sanjai Srivatsa Dhanraj and Maneesha K lost to Malaysia's Wong Tien Ci and Lim Chiew Sien 21-9, 7-21, 12-21.