Boys keep Indian hopes alive

Indian challenge in the World Junior badminton championship will now depend entirely on how the boys perform in the next few days after the country's challenge came to an end in women's singles, doubles and mixed doubles on the second day of competition in Chiba, Japan on Wednesday.
In the absence of Asian Junior champion P V Sindhu, the girls contingent was not expected to bring home a medal but none of them could even manage to clear the first three rounds.
However, there will three singles representatives in the fourth round in the boy's section with rookie Harsheel Dani leading the charge. Dani, who recently won the Sushant Chipalkatti u-19 tournament in Pune, upset 9/16 seed Matthias Almer of Austria 21-19, 21-13 to set up a fourth round clash with 5/8 seed Teck Zho soo of Malaysia.
Also advancing to the fourth round were 5/8 seed C Rohit Yadav and Pratul Joshi. Rohit defeated Fikri Ihsandi Hamadi of Indonsia 21-11, 21-15 while Joshi packed off 9/16 seed Mahbub Thomi Azizan of Indonesia 23-21, 14-21, 22-20 in the third round encounters.

Inspired Mitani ends Saina’s winning run

Saina Nehwal was given a dose of her own medicine in the final of the French Super Series badminton tournament when the world number three came against an inspired opponent who was willing to retrieve every shuttle that came her way and forced the favourite to commit mistakes.

Japanese Minatsu Mitani, who was playing her first Super Series final, came up with a performance that reduced Saina into a mere spectator for the last 10 points as she won 21-19, 21-11 to become the first player from the country to win a Super Series title.

Mitani, who had lost to Saina in the second round of the Denmark Super Series premier last week, had accounted for sixth seed Jiang Yanjiao of China in the opening round and in the final proved that none of her victories over higher ranked opponents, enroute to the summit clash, were flukes.

The world number 26 showed exceptional court coverage to nullify Saina’s booming smashes and every time the rallies prolonged came up with either a cross court drop shot or a down the line smash from unexpected angles to catch the top seed out of position.

It only ended up frustrating Saina, who made a flurry of errors in the second game to hand the title to Mitani.

Impatient Ajay loses to Gade, Saina in quarters

Ajay Jayaram first lost his patience and then the match against Peter Gade of Denmark in the men’s singles second round of the French Open Super Series badminton tournament on Thursday.

The Indian dominated the rallies for the better part of the hour long encounter but the experience of Gade and Ajay’s inability to control his urge for winners ultimately turned the tide in the Dane’s favour as he won 18-21, 21-17, 21-14.

Gade was knocked out at this stage of his home tournament last week by a defensive minded Sourabh Verma of India and after Ajay took the first game and opened up a two point lead in the second, it looked like the Indian Oil employee had learned the way to counter the former world number one.

But it was then that Gade changed his tactics and began prolonging the rallies and Ajay made some elementary errors in an attempt to go for the kill.

The third game progressed on the same lines with Ajay opening a 9-6 lead and then going on the attack instead of holding his ground. The move backfired and all Gade had to do was to keep the shuttle in play for Ajay to make mistakes.

Earlier, Saina Nehwal eased through to the quarterfinals of the women’s singles with a 21-16, 21-13 victory over Thailand’s Sapsiree Taerattanachai in the second round.

The top seed, who was stretched in the first round, was at relative ease against the Thai girl and will now take on the winner of the match between seventh seed Intanon Ratchanok of Thailand and Aprilla Yuswandari  of Indonesia.

French Open: Saina made to work hard by Han

World number four Saina Nehwal was given a wake-up call in the opening round of the French Super Series badminton tournament on Wednesday when the top seed was stretched for almost an hour by unheralded Li Han of China in the women’s singles first round encounter.

Saina, who is chasing back-to-back Super Series titles after winning the Denmark Open last week, managed to overpower the Chinese, who is currently ranked 19 places below the Indian, 21-11, 16-21, 21-19 in 59 minutes and will now face Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand in the second round.

Saina looked like bulldozing through the first round encounter when she controlled the pace of the match in the first game but the Chinese came back strongly in the second and her superiority in the net exchanges added to the pressure on the London Olympics bronze medallist.

In the other matches, Ajay Jayaram defeated Suppanyu Avihingsanon of Thailand 21-16, 21-17 in the men’s singles first round. He will now face third seed Peter Gade of Denmark for a place in the quarterfinals.

However, the challenge of Sourabh Verma came to an end in the opening round when he went down against Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia 22-20, 21-16 for the second successive time. The duo had met in the second round of the Denmark Open last week and the Indonesian had come up triumph in two straight games.

Refreshed Saina makes Premier return in Denmark

If there was any question mark on Saina’s match preparedness after taking over a month’s break from competitive badminton since winning the London Olympics bronze medal in August, the world number four gave an emphatic reply by winning the women’s singles title at the Denmark Super Series Premier without dropping a game in the entire tournament.
The third seed went into the tournament admitting that she wasn’t expecting much from the tournament since she was returning from a break and a knee injury. But the Bharat Petroleum employee, who recently signed Rs 40 crore deal for three years, showed no signs of rustiness or injury throughout the tournament.
In fact, it was her opponents who looked battle weary and it was no different against Juliane Schenk of Germany in the final. The German is known for her ability to push the physical limits of the opponent but in the final she was clearly no match to Saina’s pace and guile as the Indian bagged her second Premier level title of the year with a 21-17, 21-8 victory in just 34 minutes.
The title triumph also means that Saina became only the second Indian to win a Danish Open title after Prakash Padukone, who achieved the feat back in 1979. Saina now has 16 international titles to her name which includes six super series crowns.
Just before the start of the match a fire alarm went off and delayed the proceedings by a few minutes till the announcer made it clear that it was a false alarm. The final was played on similar lines with Schenk creating a false impression that she was up for a fight by making a comeback on a couple of occasions in the first game.
But the German never really looked threatening or had the energy to launch a full blown attack and simply caved in after the change of end. Saina simply had to keep the shuttle in play in the second half of the game and Schenk gifted points through unforced errors and did not even attempt to return the Indian serve on match point.
Later, Saina admitted that she did not expect much from this tournament and was happy that she could play at her best here. “There were a lot of felicitations and other functions after the Olympics. My right knee was also not in prime condition and hence I was not expecting much. But I am thankful to god and all the supporters here who stood behind me.”
Saina will now head to the French Super Series where she is the top seed.

Saina in Denmark Open final

A Chinese opponent conceded a match against Saina Nehwal for the second successive time as the world number four Indian stayed on course for her maiden Denmark Super Series title.

Saina, who bagged the London Olympic bronze medallist when Xin Wang conceded the bronze medal play off, went through the final after world champion and top seed Yihan Wang had to conceded their semifinal encounter due to a knee injury.

Saina, who had lost her earlier six encounters against the world champion, took time to find her rhythm but once the world number four hit her strides it was difficult for Yihan to match her opponent’s pace with a suspect knee.

She finally gave up the fight trailing 21-12, 12-7 at the half an hour mark and cleared Saina’s passage to the final.

The third seed will now take on Germany’s Juliane Schenk, who defeated China’s Yanjiao Jiang 13-21, 21-14, 21-15.

Saina sends Baun packing to reach maiden Denmark Open semifinal

Saina Nehwal made short work of an error-prone Tine Baun to end the local favourites hope of leaving a mark in what will be her final Denmark Super Series appearance in Odense on Friday.

Baun, a two-time All England champion, could not contain her frustration during the quarterfinal against the world number four Indian as she made many uncharecteristic errors and bowed out 21-10, 21-11 in just 33 minutes.

The Bharat Petroleum employee, who is playing in her first tournament since winning the bronze medal in the London Olympics, would now face top seed Yihan Wang of China in what would be a repeat of the last four clash in London a few months ago.

World champion Wang got the better of Korean seventh seed Ji Jyun Sung 21-13, 16-21, 21-8 in just under an hour but will face a lot fresher Saina in the semifinal.

Apart from a few points in which Baun showed glimpses of why she was once the biggest challenger to the Chinese hegemony, Saina was always in control of the match and eased into her maiden semifinal of the Denmark Open when Baun sent a regulation defensive stroke in the net.

But to get to the final, Saina will have to beat an opponent she hasn’t managed to get the better of in their six previous encounters.

Best of luck Saina.

Saina in Danish Open quarters; Verma ousted

Saina Nehwal stormed into the quarterfinals of the Denmark Super Series with a convincing 21-15, 21-14 victory over Minatsu Mitani of Japan in the women's singles second round on Thursday.
The second round encounter between the third seed and her less fancied opponent had a bizarre start with the Japanese taking the first 15 points and then Saina bouncing back with 21 consecutive points to pocket the first game 21-15.
The most interesting fact about the entire game was that all the points were scored by smash winners as both players struggled to keep the rally going for a longer period.
The second game was far too moderate in comparison to the first, with Saina never letting go the advantage she got in the first few exchanges. The rallies were always smaller and it was the Indians better control at the net that made the ultimate difference. She will now face the winner of the match between local favourite Tine Baun and qualifier Lok Yan Poon of Hong Kong.
While Saina took her expected position in the quarterfinals, India's challenge in the men's singles came to an end when Sourabh Verma went down against Indonesia's Sony Dwi Kuncoro 21-19, 21-17 in the second round.

Verma packs off Gade in his last Denmark Open

Sourabh Verma put behind his disappointing performance in the Senior Nationals in style when he shattered the local hopes by packing off local favourite and sixth seed Peter Gade in the very first round of the Denmark Super Series badminton tournament in Odense on Wednesday night.
Former world number one Gade has already announced that this would be his last year on the circuit and was hoping to give the home crowd a reason to celebrate in what would be his final appearance in the Danish Open.
But that was not to be. Verma showed the patience to engage the veteran shuttler in long rallies and was prepared to wait for his opportunities. The tactic caught Gade by surprises as the Indian raced to a 5-0 lead in the first game and never looked back after that to win 21-18, 21-14 in just 42 minutes.
This was the first tournament for Verma after losing in the second round of the Senior National badminton tournament last month, where he was defending the crown.
The additional period was spent well on preparing for the Danish Open and the results were there for everyone to see.
While Verma advanced to the second round and will face Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia, Nationals finalist Ajay Jayaram went down 19-21, 21-8, 21-9 against seventh seed Pengyu Du of China in the first round.

Saina makes a winning return in Denmark Super Series

London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal shrugged off any suggestions of rustiness to beat South Korea's Yeon Ju Bae 21-17, 21-17 to move into the women's singles second round of the Denmark Super Series badminton tournament.
The world number four, who had not played any tournament since her London exploits, needed some time to settle down as the Korean took a 7-4 lead in the first game. But Saina quickly drew level and had enough fuel to pull away in the business end of the first game.
The Bharat Petroleum employee was always in command in the second and would now face Japan's Minatsu Mitani. The Indian ace enjoys a 2-0 head-to-head record and would be considered a favourite for a berth in the quarterfinals.
In the day's other matches, Anand Pawar came up with a spirited performance against fifth seed Sho Sasaki of Japan before going down 14-21, 21-15, 21-11 in the men's singles first round.
Men's doubles pair of Arun Vishnu and K Tarun and mixed combination of Tarun and Ashwini Ponnappa were knocked out in the first round itself. 

Sindhu, Sameer out of World juniors

India's junior world cup campaign suffered a major setback when world number 21 PV Sindhu and last edition bronze medallist Sameer Verma opted out of the tournament due to injury.
The world junior championship is to be held in Chiba, Japan from October 25.
Sindhu had played through the knee injury at the senior nationals in Srinagar last month and had lost the final to Sayali Gokhale of Air India.
The Asian Junior champion was considered to be the favourite for the gold this year but failed to recover completely and had to pull out.
Sameer, on the other hand, has been out of action for almost a month now due to an ankle injury and would not travel to Japan.

Indian challenge ends in Asian meet

Indian challenge in the Badminton Asia Youth U-17 & 15 championship when Chirag Sen lost the u-15 singles semifinal against Chen Jinlin of China 14-21, 21-12, 21-13 and then the Indian combination of Chirag and Rahul C Yadav went down against Malaysia’s Tan Jia Wei and Ooi Zi Heng 20-22, 21-17, 27-25.

Chirag reaches semis of Asian u-15 championship

India’s Chirag Sen registered a comfortable victory over Lim Su Min of Korea to reach the semifinals of the Badminton Asia Youth U-15 championship in Dongguan, China on Friday.

The Prakash Padukone Academy trainee, who upset fifth seed Lek U Leong of Macau in the second round, won the quarterfinal 21-16, 21-19 and hasn’t dropped a game in the competition so far. He will now take on local hope Chen Jinlin in the semifinals on Saturday.

Later in the day, Chirag also teamed up with Rahul C Yadav to reach the boys u-15 doubles semifinal after a hard-fought 21-12, 18-21, 21-16 victory over the Korean combination of Byeon Jeong Soo and Lim Su Min.

The Indian combination will now face Malaysia’s Tan Jia Wei and Ooi Zi Heng for a place in the final.

However, it was not a good day in office for India’s under-17 girl’s players as Sushant Chippalkatti tournament winner G Ruthvika Shivani went down to China’s Chen Yufei 21-12, 21-17 in the singles quarterfinals and then she and Rituparna Das failed to counter the local combination of Li Yun and Chen Mingchun and lost 12-21, 21-14, 21-19 in the doubles event.

Doubles players would also like some recognition sir

The Badminton Association of India on Wednesday announced a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh each for singles stars P Kashyap and PV Sindhu.
Kashyap was honoured for reaching the quarterfinals of the London Olympics while Sindhu earned the accolades for her Asian junior triumph.
However, in the entire euphoria, the apex sporting body failed to recognise the contribution made by the doubles players in taking India on the world map.
The trio of Jwala Gutta, Ashwini Ponnappa and V Diju had created history by becoming the first women and mixed doubles combination to qualify for the Olympics. In fact, Jwala and Ashwini had also won the Commonwealth Games gold and are also the first combination to win the World Championship bronze medal.
BAI should also remember that in the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, the doubles combinations need to fire if India has to have a chance of a medal.
Hopefully this will be the last time they will suffer this discrimination.
Otherwise, no player would ever be keen to take up doubles as a career and we would continue to falter in team championships.

Kashyap, Sayali are national champions

P Kashyap’s trophy cabinet had many medals to show off. But the missing senior national title had been bothering the London Olympic quarterfinalists for far too long. But after today, the 26-year-old can breathe easy.
The Gopichand Academy trainee carved his name on the Vikas Topiwala Challenge Cup with an emphatic 21-18, 21-17 victory over Ajay Jayaram in the men’s singles final of the 77th Senior National Badminton championship here.
The Men’s singles final turned out to be a one-way affair with a spirited Kashyap continuing to display the same form that had helped him demolish his opponent in the semifinal. He was aggressive and went for the kill whenever the opportunity presented itself and never allowed Ajay to get any opportunity to stage a comeback.
“It is a big relief. I wanted to win this title for so many years and it’s a big burden off my shoulder now that I have won it. Ajay has had a fantastic tournament this week, but I was confident of winning. My heath gave me some trouble initially but that didn't affect me today,” said Kashyap, who had previously lost in two finals to Aravind Bhat.
In the women’s singles, Sayali Gokhale got the better of defending champion PV Sindhu 21-15, 15-21, 21-15 to regain the title she had won four years ago.
It was an absorbing affair with the tenacious Sayali maintaining her intensity throughout the one hour 15 minute encounter, thereby pushing Sindhu to the brink.
Sindhu, who had been carrying a knee injury in the tournament, was sluggish in her movements and that Sayali capitalised on that with some deft crosscourt smashes and pushes.
“I knew she was not 100 per cent. Despite that, I went into the match without much expectations and I feel that helped,” said the Pune girl, who had lost to Sindhu in the final of the Tata Open International series tournament in December last year.

Results (final):

Men: Singles: P Kashyap (PSPB) bt Ajay Jayaram (PSPB) 21-18, 21-17
Doubles: B Sumeet Reddy/Manu Attri (AAI) bt Akshay Dewalkar (AI)/Pranav Chopra (PSPB) 10-21, 21-14, 21-12
Women: Singles: Sayali Gokhale (AI) bt PV Sindhu (PSPB) 21-15, 15-21, 21-15
Doubles: Aparna Balan/Sikki Reddy bt Varsha Belawadi/GM Nischitha 21-11, 21-13
Mixed doubles: Aparna Balan/Arun Vishnu bt Ashwini Ponnappa/Tarun Kona 21-13, 18-21, 21-15

Below par Sindhu had little trouble in semis

A below par PV Sindhu showed the gap between her and rest of the Indian women shuttlers when she overcame a sluggish start to beat Arundhati Pantawane 8-21, 21-18, 21-13 and reach the final of the 77th Senior National Badminton championship here on Tuesday.
The defending champion has been troubled by her right knee throughout the tournament and never looked comfortable on the court throughout the 49-minute encounter against her Gopichand Academy mate but did just enough to reach the final.
Pantawane had started brilliantly, attacking Sindhu at the outset and bulldozed through the first game.
But Sindhu, who upset the reigning Olympic champion Li Xuerui in the China Open a few weeks ago, slowed the pace of the game and controlled the rallies better thereafter to turn the tide.
Sindhu was never in control throughout the match and every time she was being made to stretch for the shuttle, she preferred to let it go. However, Pantawane failed to execute the right game plan and the pre-tournament favourite comfortably negotiated the challenge with superior net dribbles and half smashes.
She will now face former national champion Sayali Gokhale, who got the better of youngster Tanvi Lad 21-17, 9-21, 21-11.
The men's singles final will see Olympic bronze medallist P Kashyap take on Ajay Jayaram in an all-Petroleum final.

Results (semifinal):

Men: Singles: Ajay Jayaram (PSPB) bt K. Nandagopal (AAI) 21-14, 21-15; P. Kashyap (PSPB) bt K. Srikanth (AP) 21-5, 21-8
Doubles: Akshay Dewalkar (AI)/Pranav Chopra (PSPB) bt Alwin Francis (Ker)/V. Diju (PSPB) 21-18, 21-15; Manu Attri/Sumeeth Reddy (AAI) bt Guru Prasad and Vineeth Manuel (Kar) 21-10,
21-12.
Women: Singles: P. V. Sindhu (PSPB) bt Arundhati Pantawane (PSPB) 8-21, 21-18, 21-13; Sayali Gokhale (AI) bt Tanvi Lad (AI) 21-17, 9-21, 21-11.
Doubles: 1-Aparna Balan (PSPB)/N Sikki Reddy (AAI) bt K Maneesha (AP)/Pradnya Gadre (AAI) 16-21, 21-19, 21-15; Varsha Belawadi/G. M. Nischitha (Kar) bt Sanyogita Ghorpade and Saili Rane (AI) 21-16, 15-21, 21-17.
Mixed: Aparna Balan/Arun Vishnu (PSPB) bt K. Maneesha (AP)/Pranaav Chopra (PSPB) 17-21, 21-12, 21-14; Ashwini Ponappa and K Tarun (PSPB) bt Prajakta Sawant (PSPB)/Manu Attri (AAI) 21-19, 19-21, 21-15

Brothers Srikanth and Nandagopal book semifinal berths

K Srikanth and K Nandagopal have been used to facing each other for years in their backyard and the business end of the Andhra state championship. But a chance to face off in the 77^th Senior National Badminton championship seems a realistic possibility after both the brothers registered convincing wins in the quarterfinals.

Srikanth, who won the Maldives International earlier this year, got the better of former junior national champion RMV Guru Sai Dutt 21-13, 21-19 while Nandagopal hammered giant killer Shreyansh Jaiswal 21-18, 21-9 to reach the semifinals.

Srikanth will now take on London Olympic bronze medallist P Kashyap while Nandagopal will meet Ajay Jayaram for a berth in the final.

While Nandagopal was a runaway favourite in the quarterfinals, it was the younger brother Srikanth who came up with a special performance to upset his senior at the Gopichand Badminton Academy.

There were no flashy strokes, nor any extraordinary game plan. But Srikanth showed the value of sticking to the basics and not allowing any opportunity to score a point pass by. He kept things tight at the net and used the height advantage whenever Guru struggled with the length of his lifts.

The only time, Srikanth felt the jitters was when he had three match points and tried to hurry the rallies. He mistimed a smash and then put a simple net dribble in the net before Guru pushed a drive over the baseline to hand the boy from Guntur his maiden semifinal appearance in the senior nationals.

In the other matches, Kashyap continued his dominance on Sai Praneeth with a 21-18, 21-19 victory while Ajay recovered from a bad start to thrash Abhimanyu Singh 18-21, 21-9, 21-6.

In the women’s singles, pre tournament favourite PV Sindhu sailed into the semifinals and will face Arundhati Pantawane, who upset top seed Neha Pandit 14-21, 21-16, 21-15. The other semifinal will see former national champion Sayali Gokhale take on junior national champion Tanvi Lad.

Results:

Men: Singles: 6-K Nandagopal (AAI) bt Shreyansh Jaiswal (CG) 21-18, 21-9; Ajay Jayaram (PSPB) bt Abhimanyu Singh (MP) 18-21, 21-9, 21-6; P Kashyap (PSPB) bt 2-B Sai Praneeth 21-18, 21-19; 8-K Srikanth (AP) bt 14-RMV Guru Sai Dutt (PSPB) 21-13, 21-19

Doubles: Manu Atri/B Sumeeth Reddy w/o Rupesh Kumar/Sanave Thomas; 3-Akshay Dewalkar (AI)/Pranav Chopra (PSPB) bt 7-Venkat Gaurav/Manish Gupta (CG) 21-14, 21-13; 2-D Guru Prasad/Vineeth Manuel (KTK) bt Surender Rathee/Neeraj Vashisth (HAR) 21-11, 21-17

Women: Singles: Arundhati Pantawane (PSPB) bt 1-Neha Pandit (AI) 14-21, 21-16, 21-15; 3-PV Sindhu (PSPB) bt 23-Anita Ohlan (RLY) 21-13, 8-3 ret; 2-Sayali Gokhale (AI) bt 7-PC Thulasi (PSPB) 23-21, 21-19; 9-Tanvi Lad (AI) bt 11-Trupti Murgunde (PSPB) 21-15, 21-16

Doubles: 1-Aparna Balan (PSPB)/N Sikki Reddy (AAI) bt 6-Anita Ohlan/Dhanya Nair (RLY) 21-12, 21-11; 4-Sanyogita Ghorpade (MAH)/Saili Rane (AI) bt K Suneri/S Darshini 21-16, 21-17; Pradnya Gadre (AAI)/K Maneesha (AP) bt 3-Prajakta Sawant/Trupti Murgunde (PSPB) 21-14, 21-18; 2-Varsha Belawadi/GM Nischita (KTK) bt Sonal More/Vinaya Shetty (MAH) 19-21, 21-18, 21-10

Mixed: K Maneesha (AP)/ Pranav Chopra (PSPB) bt Manasi Gadgil/Nishad Dravid (MAH) 21-18, 21-13; Ashwini Ponappa/K Tarun (PSPB) bt Juhi Dewagan/venkat Gaurav (CG) 21-15, 21-8; 1-Aparna Balan/Arun Vishnu (PSPB) bt 6-K Suneri/Vijay Aloysius (TN) 21-9, 21-16; 4-Manu Atri (AAI)/Prajakta Sawant (PSPB) bt Susan Rajan/Ram C Vijay (KER) 21-9, 21-10