Lucknow, Nov 25 (IANS): Ace Indian shuttler Sameer Verma defended his Syed Modi International Super 300 tournament title by defeating China's Lu Guang Zu from China here on Sunday.
In 2017, Sameer, 25, had outclassed compatriot B Sai Praneeth in the summit clash to earn the title.
On Sunday, third seed Sameer defeated his chinese opponent 16-21, 21-19, 21-14 in a 70 minute-long thriller.
With this win, Sameer also booked his spot in the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals, slated to be held in Guangzhou.
The 25-year-old started the contest on a good note, taking an early 8-4 lead in the opening game however, Guang Zu made a comeback to take a 18-12 lead before taking the game 21-16 in his favour.
In a closely fought second game, Sameer managed a 11-8 lead into the mid-game break. The Chinese shuttler saved a game point at 18-20 but Sameer converted in the second time to win it 21-19.
Sameer maintained his good run in the third game, taking a 7-3 lead before the chinese fought back once again to level the score at 7-7. Guang Zu then stretched his lead to 10-7.
The momentum then shifted the other way as the Indian also made some fine moves to take a 11-10 lead.
After this, Sameer took a four-point lead as the score read 16-12 in his favour and went on to clinch the issue 21-14.