Chetan Anand [ Images ] and Aparna Popat won the men's and women's singles titles respectively in the 68th National Badminton Championships in Hyderabad on Thursday.

In the finals, Anand trounced Arvind Bhatt 15-12, 15-8 to justify his top billing while Popat scored a smashing 11-0, 11-6 win over Trupti Murgunde to win the national title for the seventh consecutive time.

Markose Bristow and Roopesh Kumar won the doubles title in the men's section, beating Jaseel P Ismail and JBS Vidyadhar 15-5, 15-6 in the final.

The men's singles final evoked good interest, with Arvind posting a stiff challenge to the top seed and exhibiting some scintillating smashes. But he could not match Anand when it mattered in the thrilling first game, which he lost 15-12.

Amidst cheers from the crowd at every rally and power packed smash, the two shuttlers gave a good display of slow serves and baseline play with Anand racing away to 4-0 lead in the second game.

Arvind, who had toppled Abhinn Shyam Gupta and Sachin Ratti en route to the final, bounced back to 8-11 and was going strong when Anand raised his game by a few notches to win at 15-8 and retain the title.

The women's singles was a one-sided affair with Popat winning the match without much ado.

Pullela Gopichand [ Images ] and G Jwala won the mixed doubles, defeating Jaseel P Ismail and Manjusha Kanwar 15-6, 8-15, 15-3 last night.

Results (finals):

Men: Chetan Anand (PSPB) bt Arvind Bhatt (PSPB) 15-12, 15-8.

Women: Aparna Popat (PSPB) bt Trupti Murgonde (Mah) 11-0, 11-6.

Men doubles: Markose Bristow and Roopesh Kumar bt Jaseel P Ismail and JBS Vidyadhar 15-5, 15-6.

Women's doubles: G Jwala and Shruti Kurien bt Trupti Murgunde and Fatima Md 5-15, 15-4, 15-4.

Mixed doubles: Pullela Gopichand and G Jwala (PSPB) bt Jaseel P Ismail and Manjusha Kanwar (PSPB) 15-6, 8-15, 15-3.