Sindhu, Srikanth crowned national champions

K Srikanth and P V Sindhu registered comfortably victories to lift the men’s and women’s singles titles in the 78^th ATS Senior National Badminton championship at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here on Monday.

Thailand Grand Prix Gold winner Srikanth saved a game point in the second game to over the challenge of second seed RMV Guru Sai Dutt 21-13, 22-20 in 40 minutes to lift the Vikas Topiwala Challenge Cup.

Earlier, world championship bronze medallist P V Sindhu ended the dream run of giant killer Rituparna Das 21-11, 21-17 to reclaim the Olympian Badminton Challenge Cup for the second time in three years.

Sindhu was the runaway favourite to lift the women’s singles title and the world number 11 was always in control throughout the 30 minute encounter.

The men’s singles final was a lot closer encounter. Both players began on a cautious note and it was Srikanth who put the foot on the accelerator first. He opened up a five point lead at the first break and then just built on the advantage to draw first blood.

It looked like the second game was also going into the same direction when Srikanth opened six point lead at 14-8. But Guru wasn’t ready to give up tamely and slowly clawed back by prolonging rallies and making his opponent to work harder.

However, it could not force the match into a decider as Srikanth raised his game to clinch three straight points and carve his name on the national title.

“I can’t express my feelings now. I dreamt about winning the national crown ever since I started playing badminton. For me this is just a start of my career and I aim to win many more titles in the future,” Srikanth said after the finals.

Results:

Women’s singles: 2-PV Sindhu (PSPB) bt 15-Rituparna Das (AP) 21-11, 21-17

Men’s singles: 5-K Srikanth (PSPB) bt 2-RMV Guru Sai Dutt (PSPB) 21-13, 22-20

Women’s doubles: 2-Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnappa (PSPB) bt 1-Pradnya Gadre/N Sikki Reddy (AAI) 21-17, 21-16

Men’s doubles: 1-Pranaav Chopra/Akshay Dewalkar (PSPB/AI) bt 2-Manu Atri/B Sumeet Reddy (AAI/AP) 21-19, 21-17

Mixed Doubles: 2-Arun Vishnu/Aparna Balan (PSPB) bt 1-K Tarun/Ashiwini Ponnappa (PSPB) 21-10, 21-17

Prajakta, Aarti win Bangladesh international challenge crown

Newly formed women’s doubles pairing of Prajakta Sawant and Aarti Sara Sunil bagged their second international women’s doubles title in only their third international appearance together when they clinched the Bangladesh Open International Challenge badminton tournament in Dhaka on Saturday.

Prajakta and Aarti, who played together on the international circuit for the first time in Bahrain International series and went on to win the title, did not need to break any sweat in the final in Dhaka when compatriots Dhanya Nair and Mohita Sahdev retired with the score reading 22-20, 15-4 in the favour of eventual champions.

While Prajakta and Aarti brought home their second title, singles specialist Saili Rane failed to overcome the challenge of top seed Hsiao Ma Pai of Chinese Taipei and lost 21-10, 21-13 in the women’s singles final.

Rituparna, Joshi bag junior national singles title

U-19 national champions
Aditya Joshi and Rituparna Das

 Rituparna Das ended G Ruthvika Shivani’s hopes of a second consecutive double crown with a straight games hammering in the u-19 girls singles final while second seed Aditya Joshi of Air India ended the Houdini act of Kerala’s Arun George to lift the u-19 boys title in the 38^th Junior National Badminton tournament here on Thursday.

The Kolkata girl, who now plays for Andhra Pradesh after shifting base to Hyderabad, proved too good for the defending champion to win 21-14, 21-7 to add the u-19 national title to the u-13 and u-17 national crowns she had won in the past and completed a double crown herself by also bagging the girls doubles title with J Meghana.

U-19 boys doubles champions
MR Arjun and Chirag Shetty with
BAI vice president TPS Puri and
coach Sanjeev Sachdeva

The encounter between the country’s two topmost juniors was expected to go down the wire but Rituparna never allowed her opponent to get a foot-hold in the match. She was deceptive at the net and came up with some timely drops to tackle the reach of the lanky Khamman girl, who had earlier got the better of Maharashtra’s Karishma Wadkar in the u-17 final.

Karishma, playing in her maiden national final, managed to push the defending champion in the first game but a few unforced errors at the crucial moment cost her dearly.

In the boy’s u-19 final, Arun who had staged improbable comebacks in the pre-quarterfinals and the semifinals began on the positive note but once Joshi got his rhythm going it was a one-way traffic.

The boy from Madhya Pradesh, who trains at the Prakash Padukone academy in Bangalore, kept Arun away from the net and used his big smash to good effect to kill the rallies and pocket the match 18-21, 21-12, 21-14 in 48 minutes.

In the u-17 boys singles final S Daniel Farid ended the dream run of B R Sankeerth 21-11, 21-14.

Results (finals):

BS U17

Daniel Farid S. (1), KTK, beat Sankeerth B. R. (9), KTK, 21-11, 21-14

GS U17

Ruthvika Shivani G. (2), AP, beat Karishma Wadkar (1), MAH, 21-19, 21-14

BS U19

Aditya Joshi (2), AI beat Arun George (3), KER, 18-21, 21-12, 21-14

GS U19

Rituparna Das (1), AP, beat Ruthvika Shivani G. (3), AP 21-14, 21-7

BD U17

Rohan Kapoor, DLI and Sourabh Sharma, HAR, beat Kapil Chaudhry and Chandrabhushan Tripathi,(3), UP, 21-10, 21-16

GD U-17

Mahima Aggarwal and Shikha Gautam, (3), KAR, beat Malvika JK and Ashna Roy, (1), KER 21-17, 21-11

BD U19

Arjun M. R., KER, and Chirag Shetty (5), MAH, beat Shlok Ramchandran and Sanyam Shukla (1), AI, 21-12, 19-21, 22-20

GD U19

Rituparna Das and Meghana J.  (3), AP, beat Vaishnavi Iyer, MAH, and Reshma Karthik (4), AI, 17-21, 21-9, 21-12

XD U19

Sanyam Shukla, AI, and Meghana J. (1), AP, beat Sankeerth B. R. and Mira Mahadevan, KTK, 21-11, 22-24, 21-7

Qualifier Mrunmayi registers double upsets on second day of junior nationals

Maharashtra’s Mrunmayi Saoji underlined her credentials as a fast improving player when she created an upset in the third round of the u-17 and u-19 girls singles categories on the second day of the 38^th Junior National Badminton Championship in Chandigarh on Monday.

Qualifier Mrunmayi, who trains in Nagpur under Robin Simon, had been in good form in the state championship and underlined her growing stature as a talented shuttler with a 21-15, 21-13 victory over Anoushka in the third round of the u-17 category and later came back to upset 10^th seed Anura Prabhudesai of Goa 8-21, 21-16, 21-19.

In the u-17 prequarterfinals, Mrunmayi will face 13^th seed V Harika of Andhra Pradesh, while top seed Rituparna Das awaits her in the u-19 event.

Elsewhere, defending champion and top seed Harsheel Dani of Air India was stretched to the decider by M Kanishq of Andhra Pradesh. The last time the two faced each other in the Sushant Chippalkati Memorial junior international meet, Kanishq had got the better of his senior opponent but the top seed kept his cool on Monday despite the qualifier launching a late charge.

Dani won 21-13, 18-21, 21-14 to set up a pre-quarterfinal clash against 13^th seed Harshit Aggarwal of Karnataka.

Important Results (third round):

BS U17

Daniel Farid S. (1), KTK, beat Mithun M., KTK, 21-13 21-12; Aarush Setia (15), DLI, beat Piyush Meena, RAJ, 17-21 21-16 21-14; Siril Varma A. S. S. (5), AP, beat Siddharth Pratap Singh, CG, 15-21 21-10 21-15; Chandra Kumar D., AP, beat Bodhit Joshi (11), UTR, 21-15 15-21 21-10; Talar Laa (4), ANP, beat Sribalaji S., PY, 23-21 21-14; Kanishq M. (6), AP, beat Dharma Sekaran K., TN, 21-12 21-11; Chirag Shetty (7), MAH, beat Satish Naidu J., AP, 21-16 21-14: Lakshya Sen (16), UTR, beat Kartikey Gulshan Kumar, DLI, 21-17 21-15: Chirag Sen (3), AI, beat Kartik Jindal, HAR, 21-19 21-12: Rahul Yadav C. (2), AP, beat Harsh Jagdhane, MAH, 21-8 21-16 .

GS U17

Karishma Wadkar (1), MAH, beat Priyanka Kumawat, RAJ, 21-16 21-6: Vrushali G. (10), AP, beat Nikita Singh, JAR, 21-6 21-5; Shriyanshi Pardeshi (3), AI, beat Sri Krishna Priya K., AP, 21-12 21-15: Ashmita Chaliha (14), ASM, beat Diksha Choudhary, CG, 21-11 21-11; Shikha Gautam (8), KTK, beat Santoshi Hasini R., AP, 20-22 21-19 21-14; Riya Mookerjee, UP, beat Uttejitha Rao Ch. (11), AP, 21-16 22-20; Mahima Aggarwal (9), KTK, beat Bhavya Rishi, DLI, 21-17 21-17; Kuhoo Garg (5), UTR, beat Anshu Sharma, MP, 21-10 21-19; Harika V.  (13), AI, beat Shruthi S., TN, 21-16 21-19; Mrunmayi Saoji, MAH, beat Anoushka Parikh (4), GUJ, 21-15 21-13; Anura Prabhudesai (12), GOA, beat Ningshi Block Hazarika, ASM, 21-9 21-16; Kanika Kanwal (6), DLI, beat Muskan Sohi, CHG, 21-15 20-22 21-11; Ruby Singh (16), CG, beat Kalpita Sawant, MAH, 21-17 21-19; Ruthvika Shivani G. (2), AP, beat Jasmine Sahu, ORI, 21-1 21-5 .

BS U19

Harsheel Dani (1), AI, beat Kanishq M., AP, 21-13 18-21 21-14; Harshit Aggarwal (13), KTK, beat Yogesh Rajgopalan, TN, 21-3 21-7; Kaushal Dharmamer (5), MAH, beat Aarush Setia, DLI, 21-9 21-13; Arun George (3), KER, beat Kashish, PNB, 21-12 21-13; Ansal Yadav (8), UP, beat Upendra C. , AP, 21-17 21-14 .

GS U19

Rituparna Das (1), AP, beat Lalita Dahiya, HAR, 21-9 21-10; Mrunmayi Saoji, MAH, beat Anura Prabhudesai (10), GOA, 8-21 21-16 21-19; Vaishnavi Bhale, MAH, beat Shruthi S., TN, 21-16 21-13; Karishma Wadkar (11), MAH, beat Mahima Aggarwal, KTK, 21-16 21-6; Rasika Raje (4), MAH, beat Ashmita Chaliha, ASM, 14-21 21-8 25-23; Malvika J. K. (13), KER, beat Anoushka Parikh, GUJ, 21-18 12-21 21-12; Shriyanshi Pardeshi (5), AI, beat Vrushali G., AP, 21-15 21-17; Sanchali Dasgupta (12), UP, beat Yania Taring, ANP, 21-11 5-0 Ret..; Kanika Kanwal, DLI, beat Vaishnavi Iyer, MAH, 21-19 21-16; Kuhoo Garg (7), UTR, beat Yajum Laa, ANP, 22-20 21-16; Shikha Gautam (16), KTK, beat Santoshi Hasini R., AP, 21-14 15-21 21-16; Ruthvika Shivani G. (3), AP, beat Harshita Chaliha, ASM, 21-6 21-8; Sri Krishna Priya K. (14), AP, beat Shenan Christian, GUJ, 21-8 21-9; Sara Naqvi (8), UP, beat Mira Mahadevan, KTK, 21-15 21-10; Revati Devasthale (9), MAH, beat Agna Anto, KER, 21-7 21-12; Reshma Karthik (2), AI, beat Aditi Anand, TN, 21-14 21-11 .

Arun saves six match points to reach junior nationals final

Third seed Arun George of Kerala saved six match points before upsetting top seed and defending champion Harsheel Dani of Air India to reach the u-19 singles final in the 38^th Junior National Badminton championship in Chandigarh on Wednesday.

Arun, who had staged a similar comeback in the pre-quarterfinals on Tuesday, made the most of the next exchanges in the business end of the match to win the 48 minute encounter 17-21, 21-16, 25-23.

Till that come back, Arun looked out of sorts after taking a medical break while trailing 15-19 in the decider but showed the tenacity and presence of mind to hang in and force his opponent to play a pattern that benefited him in the final analysis.

He first saved four straight match points to level the score at 20-all and then wasted one match point himself at 23-22 before Dani pushed his net lift out to trigger a wild celebration from the player and his coaching staff.

Arun will now face second seed and Shushant Chippalkati junior international champion Aditya Joshi of Air India who rallied from a disastrous first game to beat fourth seed Arsalan Naqvi of 11-21, 21-12, 21-16.

In the girls section, defending junior national champion Ruthvika Shivani stayed on course for a double crown after reaching the u-17 and u-19 finals. In the u-17 semifinal, the Gopichand Academy trainee ended the dream run of Maharashtra qualifier Mrunmayi Saoji 21-7, 21-13 and then came back to defeat second seed Reshma Karthik of Karnataka 21-9, 21-13

Ruthvika will now face top seed Karishma Wadkar of Maharashtra in the u-17 final. Wadkar, who trains in the Shuttlecraze badminton academy, staved off a late comeback from Karnataka’s Shikha Gautam 21-11, 22-20 to reach her maiden national final.

The u-19 girls will see Ruthvika taking on Rituparna Das, who defeated Maharashtra’s Rasika Raje 21-12, 21-13.

Results:

BS U17

Quarter Finals: Daniel Farid S. (1), KTK, beat Siril Varma A. S. S. (5), AP, 21-9 21-17; Kanishq M. (6), AP, beat Talar Laa (4), ANP, 21-15 21-15; Chirag Sen (3), AI, beat Chirag Shetty (7), MAH, 21-10 21-18; Sankeerth B. R. (9), KTK, beat Ansal Yadav (8), UP, 21-5 21-23 21-14 .

Semi Finals

Daniel Farid S. (1), KTK, beat Kanishq M. (6), AP, 21-19 18-21 21-18; Sankeerth B. R. (9), KTK, beat Chirag Sen (3), AI, 14-21 21-15 21-12 .

GS U17

Quarter Finals

Karishma Wadkar (1), MAH, beat Vrushali G. (10), AP, 21-19 19-21 21-15; Shikha Gautam (8), KTK, beat Ashmita Chaliha (14), ASM, 21-16 21-16; Mrunmayi Saoji, MAH, beat Mahima Aggarwal (9), KTK, 17-21 21-15 23-21; Ruthvika Shivani G. (2), AP, beat Kanika Kanwal (6), DLI, 21-15 21-14.

Semi Finals

Karishma Wadkar (1), MAH, beat Shikha Gautam (8), KTK, 21-11 22-20; Ruthvika Shivani G. (2), AP, beat Mrunmayi Saoji, MAH, 21-7 21-13.

BS U19

Quarter Finals

Harsheel Dani (1), AI, beat Kaushal Dharmamer (5), MAH, 21-16 21-12; Arun George (3), KER, beat Talar Laa (10), ANP, 21-16 21-18; Arshalan Naqvi (4), UP, beat Shyam Prasad (11), KER, 21-19 21-15; Aditya Joshi (2), AI, beat Rahul Yadav C., AP, 22-20 14-21 21-14 .

Semi Finals

Arun George (3), KER, beat Harsheel Dani (1), AI, 17-21 21-16 25-23; Aditya Joshi (2), AI beat Arshalan Naqvi (4), UP 11-21, 21-12, 21-16

GS U19

Quarter Finals

Rituparna Das (1), AP, beat Karishma Wadkar (11), MAH, 21-13 21-9; Rasika Raje (4), MAH, beat Shriyanshi Pardeshi (5), AI, 21-17 23-21; Ruthvika Shivani G. (3), AP, beat Kanika Kanwal, DLI, 21-14 21-12; Reshma Karthik (2), AI, beat Sara Naqvi (8), UP, 21-13 21-12

Semi Finals

Rituparna Das (1), AP, beat Rasika Raje (4), MAH, 21-12, 21-13; Ruthvika Shivani G. (3), AP, beat Reshma Karthik (2), AI, 21-9, 21-13

BD U19

Quarter Finals

Shlok Ramchandran and Sanyam Shukla (1), AI, beat Arun George, KER, and Aditya Joshi (6), AI, 21-16 21-17; Rohan Kapoor, DLI, and Saurabh Sharma, HAR, beat Chaitanya K. P. and Gangadhara Rao V. (4), AP, 18-21 21-14 23-21; Arjun M. R., KER, and Chirag Shetty (5), MAH, beat Kawaldeep Singh and Rupinder Singh (3), CHG, 15-21 21-16 21-13; Sanidhya Bandoont and Vinay Kumar Singh, UP, beat Naveen M. and Vembarasan V.  (8), TN, 21-13 21-16

GD U19

Quarter Finals

Sruthi K. P.  and Farha Mather (1), KER, beat Pooja D. and Sonika Sai P. , AP, 21-19 21-15; Rituparna Das and Meghana J.  (3), AP, beat Ahillya Harjani and Rasika Raje (6), MAH, 21-11 21-19; Vaishnavi Iyer, MAH, and Reshma Karthik (4), AI, beat Sanchali Dasgupta and Pragya Rai, UP, 21-6 20-22 21-16; Revati Devasthale and Karishma Wadkar, MAH, beat Sudha Kalyani D. and Archana M.  (2), AP, 17-21 21-18 27-25.

XD U19

Semi Finals

Sanyam Shukla, AI, and Meghana J. (1), AP, beat Chandrabhushan Tripathi, UP, and Anushka Kuvelkar, GOA, 21-5 21-16; Sankeerth B. R. and Mira Mahadevan, KTK, beat Kabir Kanzarkar and Ahillya Harjani, MAH, 19-21 21-17 21-14.

Sindhu bags Macau Open GP gold title

After a not so impressive performance in the European Circuit, world championship bronze medallist P V Sindhu put in extra hours in training for over a month at the Gopichand Badminton Academy and the fruits of the efforts were immediately visible when the 18-year-old bagged her second GP gold title of the career at the Macau Open on Sunday.

Sindhu, seeded one in the tournament, struggled in the earlier stages but her tactics of playing percentage game under pressure helped her survive the early challenges and she sailed through the finals with a 21-15, 21-12 victory over seventh seed Michelle Li of Canada in just 37 minutes.

The world number 11, who overcame a stiff challenge from Chinese newcomer Qin Jinjing in the semifinal, kept the focus on playing aggressive with swift movements to force Li into making mistakes. She earned 33 points as against 14 from Li in the bargain and helped her clinch the title in style.

"I am extremely happy with my performance here as all the players were playing well," said Sindhu after winning her second second GP gold title after the Malaysian GP Gold crown earlier this year. 

Sindhu admitted that she was confident of bagging the crown after winning the semifinal encounter against Jinjing and never lost control of the summit clash against Li.

Though the quality of opposition in the tournament was not in the same league as in Malaysia but the title triumph would give the Indian a major confidence boost going into 2014.

Sindhu had been struggling for form since winning the World Cup bronze in August and coach Pullela Gopichand pulled her out of China Open Super Series Premier in November to work on her tactical game and get a month long period for proper training.

“I think we got a month to train and that helped us work on various aspects of her game, including playing with patience without slowing down the pace,” he added.

Coach Madhumita Bisht, who is accompanying the team in Macau, admitted that Sindhu was under pressure in the first couple of rounds as she was the top seed and was keen to improve on her performance. "But once she crossed the initial hurdles, she was playing fantastic badminton and showed no nerves in the final."

Sindhu’s road to title

First round: bt Soo Jin Kim (KOR) 15-21, 21-12, 21-19

Second round: bt Salakjit Ponsana (THA) 18-21, 21-8, 21-14

Quarterfinals: bt 5-Tsz Ka Chan (TPE) 21-17, 21-12

Semifinal: bt Qin Jinjing (CHN) 21-13, 18-21, 21-19

Final: bt 7-Michelle Li (CAN) 21-15, 21-12

Air India, Andhra Pradesh lift inter-state team titles

The victorious Air India boys team.
Photo credit Manoj Ramchandran

Star studded Air India and Andhra Pradesh registered contrasting victories to lift the boy's and girl's team titles respectively in the 38th Inter State - Inter Zonal Badminton Championships-2013 at Chandigarh on Saturday.
While Air India had to come from behind to beat Kerala 2-1 to lift the Narang Cup, Andhra Pradesh blanked Air India girls 2-0 to carve their name on the Shafi Qureshi Cup.
In the boy's final, Air India were dealt an early blow when Sushant Chippalkati Junior International champion Aditya Joshi was upset by Arun George in a three game thriller 21-23, 21-15, 21-11.
But Shlok Ramchandran and Sanyam Shukla restored parity with a 21-10, 21-17 win over Arun and Shyamprasad before junior national champion Harsheel Dani clinched the tie by beating Shyamprasad 21-12, 21-14.
In the girl's final, the quality of G Ruthvika Shivani and Rituparna Das proved too much to handle for the Air India girls.

Results (Finals):

Narang Cup for boys: Air India bt Kerala 2-1 (Aditya Joshi lost to Arun George 21-23, 21-15, 21-11; Shlok Ramchandran/Sanyam Shukla bt Shyamprasad/Arun George 21-10, 21-17; Harsheel Dani bt Shyamprasad 21-12, 21-14)
Shafi Qureshi Cup for girls: Andhra Pradesh bt Air India 2-0 (Ruthvika Shivani bt Reshma Karthik 21-9, 21-15; J Meghana/Rituparna Das bt Reshma Karthik/V Harika 21-7, 21-14

Sub Junior nationals: Simran, Kanika, Gulshan and Maisnam crowned champions

Mumbai girl Simran Singhi with
the sub junior national u-13 trophy

The 27th sub junior national badminton championship in Cuttack, Orissa turned out to be a nightmare for higher rated players as most finals on Saturday proved that seeding were just incidental in the final analysis.

Qualifier Simran Singhi of Maharashtra led the charge of the underdogs as she upset sixth seed and statemate Ritika Thaker 21-10, 21-12 in the u-13 girls singles final to win her maiden national crown.

Simran, who trains at the Uday Pawar Badminton Academy, did not drop a single game through the main draw and was clearly the better player on the final day.

The boy’s u-13 and u-15 finals also saw upset victories as Maisnam Meiraba of Manipur and Karthikey Gulshan Kumar of Delhi were crowned championship in the two categories respectively.

Maisnam, seeded fifth, came from behind to beat top seed Akash Yadav 14-21, 21-12, 24-22, while Karthikey defeated top seed Arintap Dasgupta 22-20, 17-21, 21-8.

Delhi’s Kanika Kanwal, however, ensured that the girl’s u-15 final went according to the seeding list as she got the better of Ashmita Chaliha 21-15, 10-21, 21-10 in the final.

Results

U-13

Girls Singles: Simran Singh bt 6-Ritika Thaker 21-10, 21-12

Girls doubles: Richa Muktibodh/Drithi Yatheesh bt 2-M Nivetha/S Winona 22-20, 21-12

Boys singles: 5-Maisnam Meiraba bt 1-Akash Yadav 14-21, 21-12, 24-22

Boys doubles: 1-Tukum Laa/Yash Raikwar bt Maisnam Meiraba/Akash Thakur 14-21, 21-12, 21-15

U-15

Girls singles: 1-Kanika Kanwal bt Ashmita Chaliha 21-15, 10-21, 21-10

Girls doubles: K Ashwini Bhat/U K MIthula bt 2-Cherish D’Souza/Kalpita Sawant 21-14, 16-21, 21-16

Boys singles: 2-Karthikey Gulshan Kumar bt 1-Arintap Dasgupta 22-20, 17-21, 21-8

Boys doubles: 2-D Sanjai Srivatsa/S Sribalaji bt 1-G Krishna Prasad/R Satwik Sai Raj 21-14, 21-10

China Open: Arundhati upsets Hirose; Kashyap, Saina advance

Arundhati Pantawane is undoubtedly enjoying a purple patch in her badminton career and the Nagpur girl made the most of it by upsetting world number 14 Eriko Hirose of Japan in straight games to reach the second round of the China Open Super Series Premier in Shanghai on Wednesday.

The ONGC employee, who had jumped to world number 47 in world rankings, needed just 29 minutes to dispose of the experienced Hirose 21-14, 21-18 to set up a second round clash with third seed and former world champion Yihan Wang of China.

Also joining Arundhati in the next round was sixth seed Saina Nehwal and top ranked Indian men’s shuttler P Kashyap.

Saina, who is looking for her maiden title in 2013, survived some anxious moments in the second game before getting the better of Japan’s Nozomi Okhura 21-14, 21-19 in 40 minutes and will now face another Chinese prospect Sun Yu.

While the women’s singles players registered a cent percent win record, the men’s singles stars had a mixed day.

London Olympics quarterfinalist P Kashyap extended his domination on world number 8 Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand when he upset the veteran 22-20, 21-15.

Kashyap, who now enjoys a 4-1 head-to-head advantage over Ponsana, had to save two game points in the first game. But it was his superiority at the net proved to be the defining factor in the outcome of the match. He will now face Japan’s Kento Momota in the second round.

Qualifier Anand Pawar’s challenge in the tournament, however, came to an end when he went down 18-21, 21-10, 21-11 against Japan’s Takuma Ueda.

Sameer Verma, Tanvi Lad bag singles titles in Bahrain

Former junior national champion and world junior bronze medallist Sameer Verma put behind six months of frustration and injury trouble to land his second international title in two weeks when he came back from a game down to upset sixth seed Shubhankar Dey and lift the Bahrain International Challenge title in Manama on Saturday night.

The 20-year-old, who missed most of the season due to injury and made a comeback in the Indonesia Open in September, had bagged the International series crown last week at the same venue and then added the Challenge crown on Saturday with a 19-21, 21-14, 21-12 victory over his more seasoned opponent.

The Challenge level is one step above the Series in the Badminton World Federation’s hierarchy.

While Verma remained unbeaten in Baharain, Saili Rane’s bid to grab her second international title was shattered by a rampaging Tanvi Lad in the women’s singles final.

The battle between two Mumbai born shuttlers turned out to be an one-sided affair with top seed Tanvi registering a 21-12, 21-18 victory over her compatriot in just 47 minutes.

Tanvi, who had suffered a quarterfinal reversal in the Internation Series last week, did not drop a single game this week.

“I guess I had not fully recovered after playing the European circuit and hence my performance was not up to the mark last week. I took good rest and prepared well for this week and it showed in the results,” said Tanvi after bagging her maiden international title.

In the doubles section, Sanave Thomas bagged a double crown with the mixed and men’s doubles title.

Results (final)

Mens singles: Sameer Verma bt 6-Shubhankar Dey 19-21, 21-14, 21-12

Men’s doubles: 3-Sanave Thomas/Rupesh Kumar bt V Diju/K Nandagopal walkover

Women’s singles: 1-Tanvi Lad bt 2-Saili Rane 21-12, 21-18

Women’s doubles: 2-Pradnya Gadre/N Sikki Reddy bt Aparna Balan/Sanyogita Ghorpade 21-13, 19-21, 21-5

Mixed doubles: Sanave Thomas/Prajakta Sawant bt 4-V Diju/N Sikki Reddy 19-21, 21-14, 23-23 retired

Indians sweep all five titles in Bahrain

Indian shuttlers enjoyed a fruitful outing in the Bahrain International Series 2013 in Manama as they swept all the five titles on offer on Sunday night.
Thane's Saili Rane and Madhya Pradesh's Sameer Verma claimed the women's and men's singles crowns respectively to ensure that the Indian contingent would not miss out on any title triumphs since all the three doubles finals were all-Indian affairs.
Saili, who now trains with Tom's Badminton Academy in Bangalore, fought back from a game down to beat third seed Sannatasah Saniru of Malaysia 14-21, 21-19, 21-17.
In the men's singles final, unseeded Sameer Verma kept his nerves to upset 8th seed Dinuka Karunaratne of Sri Lanka 21-11, 18-21, 21-13 to clinch his maiden senior international title.

Results (finals):
Women singles: 2-Saili Rane bt 3-Sannatasah Saniru (Mas) 14-21, 21-19, 21-17
Doubles: Prajakta Sawant/Aarti Sarah Sunil bt Aparna Balan/Sanyogita Ghorpade 18-21, 21-18,  21-16
Men singles: Sameer Verma bt 8-Dinuka Karunaratne (Sri) 21-11, 18-21, 21-13
Doubles: V Diju/K Nandagopal bt 3-Rupesh Kumar/Sanave Thomas 21-17, 12-21, 21-19
Mixed doubles: 1-Aparna Balan/Arun Vishnu bt V Diju/N Sikki Reddy 21-14, 25-23

Tanvi Lad in Swiss International final

Former junior national champion Tanvi Lad reached her maiden international final when she got the better of seventh seed Yuka Kusunose of Japan 16-21, 21-14, 21-19 in the women’s singles semifinal in the Swiss International Challenge badminton tournament in Yverdon-Ies-Bains, Switzerland.

Sixth seed Tanvi stuck to her style of grinding down the opponent with long rallies and the game plan worked perfectly for the Mumbai girl who won the semifinal in just over an hour and set up a summit clash against Beiwen Zhang of USA.

While Tanvi made it to her maiden final, the promising run of India’s doubles pairs came to an end at the semifinal stage with the mixed doubles combination of Pranaav Jerry Chopra/K Maneesha and men’s doubles pair of Chopra/Akshay Dewalkar losing their hard fought encounters.

Chopra and Dewalkar, who had bagged the bronze medal in the Bulgarian International last week, tried their best to join Tanvi in the final but went down 21-18, 21-16 against the French combination of Lucas Korvee and Brice Leverdez.

Earlier, the mixed doubles pair of Maneesha and Chopra fought valiantly against top seeds Vitalij Durkin and Nina Vislova of Russia but their efforts were not enough as they went down 21-15, 21-11.

Asian Youth Championship: Varma, Arjun/Shetty win gold

Indian contingent with Siril Varma, M R Arjun and Chirag Shetty

Indian shuttlers crowned the country’s best ever performance in the Asian Youth (u-15 & u-17) badminton championship with two gold medals in the 2013 edition of the championship in Kudus, Indonesia, on Sunday.

Fourteen-year-old Siril Varma began the Indian march with a 21-11, 21-17 victory over local favourite Putra Gatja in the boys u-15 singles final before the top seeded boy’s u-17 doubles combination of MR Arjun and Chirag Shetty defeated Thai combination of Mak Narongrit and Kantaphon Wangcharoen 21-16, 21-15 to clinch the title.

The two titles took India’s medals tally to two gold and two bronze in the championship. Bangalore’s Daniel Farid (boys u-17 singles) and Krishna Prasad/Shreya Bose (u-15 mixed doubles) had to settle for a bronze medal after losing their respective semifinals on Saturday.

Last year, India had managed to win two bronze medals in China in boy’s u-15 singles and doubles events.

The last time India had won a gold in this competition was when Prajakta Sawant and Raj Kumar won the mixed doubles gold in the 2007 Asian meet in Hanoi, Vietnam. In 2007, the tournament was called the Asian Sub Junior championship with only the U-16 category to compete.

World championship bronze medallist P V Sindhu had bagged the u-19 girls singles title in the Asian Junior championship last year.

Results:

U-15 boys singles: Siril Varma bt Putra Gatja (Ina) 21-11, 21-17

U-17 boys doubles: 1-M R Arjun/Chirag Shetty bt Kantaphon Wangcharoen/Mak Narongrit (Tha) 21-16, 21-15

Asian Youth Championship: Varma, Arjun/Shetty stay in title hunt

Unseeded Siril Varma and the doubles combination of M R Arjun and Chirag Shetty kept alive India’s hope of bringing home the gold medal when they ensured a final berth in their respective events of the Asian Youth (U-15 & U-17) badminton championship in Kudus, Indonesia, on Saturday.

Siril Varma, who trains at the Gopichand Badminton Academy, had to save two game points in the second game before clinching his u-boys 15 singles semifinal encounter against Thaliand’s Nipornam Pacharapol 21-10, 21-18 in just 38 minutes.

He will now take on local favourite Putra Gatja in the final.

In the boy’s u-17 doubles, top seeds Arjun and Shetty defeated Thai combination of Kantawat Leelavechabut Krit Tantianankul 22-20, 21-19 in a hard fought encounter to reach the summit clash. The Indian combination, which has not lost a singles game in the tournament so far, will now face another Thai challenge in the form of Mak Narongrit and Kantaphon Wangcharoen.

Meanwhile, two other Indian challengers – Daniel Farid (boys u-17 singles) and Krishna Prasad/Shreya Bose (u-15 mixed doubles) had to settle for a bronze medal after losing their respective semifinals.

Results (semifinals)

U-15

Boys singles: Siril Varma bt Nipornam Pacharapol (Tha) 21-10, 22-20

Mixed Doubles: Krishna Prasad/Shreya Bose lost to Nipornram Pacharapol/Chaiwan Pattarasuda (Tha) 21-19, 17-21, 21-19

U-17

Boys doubles: 1-M R Arjun/Chirag Shetty bt Kantawat Leelavechabut/Krit Tantianankul (Tha) 22-20, 21-19

Boys Singles: Daniel Farid lost to 3-Abdul Kholik (Ina) 21-8, 21-11

Ruthvika, Daniel, Dasgupta and Varma in Asian Youth meet quarters

Four Indian singles players stayed on course for a podium finish in the Asian Youth (U-15 & U-17) Badminton Championship currently underway at Kudus, Indonesia, after reaching the quarterfinal round in their respective age category.

Ruthvika Shivani (girls u-17), Daniel Farid (boys u-17), Arintap Dasgupta and Siril Varma (boys u-15) made it to the last eight stage on Thursday.

In the girl’s under-17 event, top seed Ruthvika Shivani hammered Yeung Nga Ting of Hong Kong 21-14, 21-14 and will take on 5^th seed Supanida Katethong of Thailand.

While the higher ranked Indian players were made to bite the dust, Daniel Farid got the better of local hope and eighth seed Zulkifli Muhammad 21-12, 10-21, 21-12.

Results (third round)

Girls u-17

Ruthvika Shivani bt Yeung Nga Ting of Hong Kong 21-14, 21-14

Boys u-17

Daniel Farid bt 8-Zulkifli Muhammad (Ina) 21-12, 10-21, 21-12

Boys u-15

Arintap Dasgupta bt Nugroho Bagas Kristianto (Ina) 13-21, 21-17, 21-12; Siril Varma bt Utama Aliev Cahya 18-21, 21-8, 21-10

Ruthvika Shivani gets top billing in Asian Youth championship

Junior national champion Ruthvika Shivani have been given top billing in the girls u-17 singles category of the Flypower Badminton Asia Youth (U-15 and U-17) championship to be held in Kudus, Indonesia, from October 8-13.

The Gopichand Academy trainee is the firm favourite to bring home the u-17 singles especially in the absence of any Chinese challenger in the competition.

In fact, all the four Indian participants in the girls u-17 category have been seeded in the tournament for the first time ever with Shreyanshi Pardeshi seeded third, Gujarat’s Anoushka Parikh sixth and ShuttleCraze Academy, Mumbai’s Karishma Wadkar seventh.

In the boy’s u-17 section, the Indian challenge will be led by fifth seed Chirag Sen with seventh seed Laa Talar, Daniel Farid and Rahul Yadav completing the team.

Indian squad:

U-15

Boys: Siril Verma, Lakshya Sen, Arintap Dasgupta, Gulshan Kartikey, Swastik Sai Raj, Krishna Prasad

Girls: Kanika Kanwal, Ashmita Chaliha, Kalpita Sawant, Akshita Bhandari, Shreya Bose

U-17

Boys: Daniel Farid, Rahul Yadav, Chirag Sen, Laa Talar, MR Arjun, Chirag Shetty, Saurav Sharma, Rohan Kapoor

Girls: Karishma Wadkar, G Ruthvika Shivani, Shriyanshi Pardeshi, Anoushka Parikh, M Archana, JK Malvika, Ashna Roy, Kuhoo Garg

Coaches: K Mohan, Vikas Sharma, O S Rana

Prannoy upsets world number six Jorgensen

Youth Olympics silver medallist H S Prannoy led the country’s charge in the Yonex Japan Open Super Series as three Indian men’s singles players reached the quarterfinal stage in Tokyo on Thursday.

Prannoy upset world number six Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark 21-14, 13-21, 21-17 in the men’s singles second round to set up a last eight clash with China’s Huan Gao.

Also joining him in the last eight stage were Thailand Grand Prix Gold winner K Srikanth and Ajay Jayaram.

Srikanth hammered local boy Kozai Kazuteru 21-12, 21-16 while Ajay got the better of Yuichi Ikeda 21-13, 11-21, 21-18.

In the quarterfinals, Srikanth will face seventh seed Kenichi Tago of Japan while Ajay will take on fifth seed Tien Minh Nguyen of Vietnam.

Anand Pawar was the only Indian men’s singles player to bow out on Thursday. The Mumbai boy came up with an inspiring performance but failed to upset world number one Lee Chong Wei. He lost 21-12, 21-16.

While the men had a good outing, women’s singles eighth seed P V Sindhu suffered a reversal when she went down 21-6, 21-17 against Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi.

BWF World Championship: Sindhu settles for bronze

P V Sindhu was given a lesson or two in deception and point building as the Indian was outclassed 21-10, 21-13 in the semifinal of the BWF World badminton championship in Guangzhou, China, on Saturday.

Sindhu, who had assured herself a bronze medal after beating seventh seed Shixian Wang on Friday, wasn’t allowed to play her natural game by the three time world junior champion in a match was billed to be a face-off between the future of world badminton.

Ratchanok was always in control throughout the 35 min encounter and the way she used her drops and down the line smashes to unsettle Sindhu was a proof of why she is regarded so highly by her fellow competitors.

BWF World Championship: Kashyap deserves credit for his effort

P Kashyap was just one point from becoming the first Indian men’s singles player in 30 years to assure a World Championship medal as the 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist held a match point in the second game in the quarterfinal against third seed Pengyu Du of China.
The opportunity was missed and Du summoned all his experience to once again stage a comeback in the decider to end Kashyap’s hopes.
It is difficult to comment on what actually happened on that point since the match was not live on the Sony Six – the official broadcaster of the tournament in India. But what is more baffling is how come the television network has not bothered to get the feed from the adjoining court because the live scoring website – tournamentsoftware.com -- clearly states that both courts are TV courts on Friday.
At 20-19 in the second game, Du also needed just one point to put pressure back on the Indian who would have been a bundle of nerves, having come this far in a tournament for the first time ever.
That one point may end up haunting Kashyap all his life if he never gets close winning a World Championship medal in the future. But he can take heart from the fact that he did everything he could to create history.
Despite the end results, Kashyap can take heart from the fact that this was one of his best performance by far.

BWF World Championship: Sindhu assured of bronze after quarterfinal win

Eighteen-year-old P V Sindhu created history on Friday when she defeated seventh seed Shixian Wang of China to become the first Indian women’s singles player to assure a medal in the BWF World Championship in Guangzhou.
The performance is all the more commendable since this was Sindhu’s first ever world championship appearance.
The Asian junior champion, who had upset second seed and defending champion Yihan Wang in the earlier round, completed the 21-18, 21-17 in just 55 minutes to book a semifinal berth and thereby a medal. She will now take on Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon, who got the better of Spain’s Carolina Marin 21-18, 20-22, 21-15.
The legendary Prakash Padukone had bagged India’s first ever world championship bronze in 1983 at Copenhagen and Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa became the first women’s doubles pairing to reach the semifinals in 2011.
Badminton Association of India President Akhilesh Das Gupta congratulated Sindhu on her historic performance and hoped that she would go on to achieve bigger glory on Saturday. “I congratulate Sindhu on reaching the semifinals and ensuring a medal. But she has the capability to go all the way in the tournament and I wish her all the luck in her endeavour.”
Sindhu’s quarterfinal triumph brought cheers to the Indian camp after third seed Saina Nehwal and P Kashyap had gone down fighting in the morning session.
Playing against an experienced opponent, Sindhu stayed very patient in long rallies, which is Wang’s strength, and delivered her half-smashes at will whenever the opportunity presented itself.
“I am very happy that everything went according to the plan. It is great to win a medal in my very first world championship appearance, but I want to now concentrate on tomorrow’s match and not allow myself to relax,” said Sindhu.
Chief National coach Pullela Gopichand was full of praise for Sindhu and said the youngster showed great composure and maturity to handle the pressure. “She played exceptionally well and was in control of the match throughout.”
Earlier, national men’s singles champion P Kashyap suffered a heart break as he was just one point away from sealing a semifinal berth but could not convert the lone match point and ended up on the losing end against third seed Pengyu Du of China 16-21, 22-20, 21-15.
The 2010 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist played to a plan and had Du on the mat for the majority of first game and staged a brilliant comeback in the second, before the Chinese rode on the crowd support to snatch victory from the Indian.
“It was disappointing not to be able to convert the match point. But I am happy that I gave my best and hopefully the result will be different the next time,” said Kashyap after the match.
On the adjacent court, Saina was off colour and went down 23-21, 21-9 against 13th seed Yeon Ju Bae of Korea. The London Olympics bronze medallist began on a confident note as she raced to a 17-11 lead in the first game but suffered an unexpected melt down to lose the game and eventually the match.

Results (quarterfinals):

Women's singles: 10-P V Sindhu bt 7-Shixian Wang (China) 21-18, 21-17; 3-Saina Nehwal lost to Yeon Ju Bae (Korea) 23-21, 21-9
Men's singles: 13-P Kashyap lost to 3-Pengyu Du (China) 16-21, 22-20, 21-15

BWF World Championship: History created as three Indians reach quarterfinals

Saina Nehwal, P V Sindhu and P Kashyap underlined India’s prowess as badminton’s emerging superpower with convincing victories to reach the quarterfinals of the BWF World Badminton Championship in Guangzhou, China, on Thursday.

This is the first time India will have three representatives in the last eight stage of the prestigious world championship and are just one victory away from ensuring a medal.

While Saina’s entry into the quarterfinals was expected, Asian Junior champion P V Sindhu and London Olympics quarterfinalist P Kashyap punched way above their weight to upset higher ranked players in the pre-quarterfinals.

Sindhu, who is playing in her maiden world championship, upset defending champion and second seed Yihan Wang of China 21-18, 23-21 in just under an hour after Kashyap had packed off sixth seed Yun Hu of Hong Kong 21-13, 21-16 on the same court.

If world number 3 Saina began India’s march with a 18-21, 21-16, 21-14 victory over Thailand’s Porntip Buranaprasertsuk, it was Sindhu who stole the limelight a few hours later.

The 18-year-old went into the third round encounter against the defending champion and London Olympics bronze medallist Yihan with very little to lose and her game plan to attack from the start worked wonders.

The Malaysian GP gold champion showed good anticipation and backed it with excellent moments to take the first game against the Chinese and at one stage looked like she could run away with the match when she opened up a 13-7 lead in the second.

But Yihan was never going to give up without a fight. She started engaging Sindhu in long rallies and managed to save three match points and was just a point away from taking the match into the decider.

However, Sindhu showed great composure to not allow the three wasted opportunities to affect her thinking as she saved a game point and then claimed the next two after marathon rallies to book a quarterfinal clash against another Chinese, seventh seed Shixian Wang.

“I cannot explain how I am feeling right now. I just went into the match with the determination to give my 100 per cent and I am really happy to have pulled off this victory,” said Sindhu after the match.

Chief national coach Pullela Gopi Chand was also elated with the results. “Sindhu was fantastic, specially the way she fought towards the end in the second game when Yihan came back strongly and saved three match points,” he said.

“I am really happy. Three players reaching the quarterfinals is history being created for Indian badminton. Now we need to take this performance to the next level tomorrow,” he added.

A few minutes before Sindhu took the court, Kashyap scripted his own fairy tale by beating Hu in just 37 minutes.

Kashyap executed the game plan of dominating her opponent to perfection and would now take on third seed Pengyu Du of China for a semifinal berth.

“I have been in the quarters at Olympics and the All England, so I am happy I have reached this stage again,” said Kashyap.

Speaking about the strategy for his quarterfinal match, he said, “Strategy depends on the kind of shuttle throw. The speed is changing from day to day so it is a lot to do with what happens at the point.”

Saina also suffered from a similar problem on Wednesday as she had to battle the drift on the court along with a tough opponent in the pre-quarterfinals.

The London Olympic bronze medallist struggled with the flight of the shuttle and lost the first game before change of ends allowed her to regroup and take control of the match.

Saina, who had never advanced beyond the quarterfinal stage of the world championship in the last three editions, will now take on 13^th seed Yeon Ju Bae of Korea, who defeated Japan’s Sayaka Takahashi 21-19, 21-17.

“Bae is a good rally player. So it will be a tough match tomorrow,” she said,

Results:

Women’s singles: 3-Saina Nehwal bt 15-Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (Thailand) 18-21, 21-16, 21-14, 10-P V Sindhu bt 2-Yihan Wang (China) 21-18, 23-21

Men’s singles: 13-P Kashyap bt 6-Yun Hu (Hong Kong) 21-13, 21-16

BWF World Championship: Saina, Sindhu advance to third round

London Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal warmed up for the bigger challenges in the 2013 BWF World Badminton Championship in style with a 21-5, 21-4 hammering of Russia’s Olga Golovanova in the second round in Gungzhou, China, on Wednesday.

The world number 3 was never expected to face any stiff challenge from the Russian, but the Bharat Petroleum employee allied any fears of rustiness and injuries as she was in cruise control throughout the 23 minute encounter.

She will now take on 15^th seed Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand for a place in the quarterfinals.

Also advancing to the third round was Asian junior champion P V Sindhu, who had to battle past Japan’s Kaori Imabeppu 21-19, 19-21, 21-17 in one hour 11 minutes.

Sindhu, playing her first ever world championship, adopted an aggressive approach and that ultimately paid off against an opponent known for her long rallies.

The lanky Hyderabadi scored most of her points through a combination of half smashes and down the line winners and is likely to meet defending champion and second seed Yihan Wang of China in the next round.

While the girls advance, Ajay Jayaram’s challenge in men’s singles came to an end when he went down 21-9, 21-17 against Spain’s Pablo Abian.

India’s challenge in doubles also ended with the loss of Arun Vishnu and K Tarun in second round of men’s doubles.
Later in the day, P Kashyap sailed into the third round when Petr Koukal of Czech Republic conceded the match due to a knee injury with the Indian leading 14-5.

Results (second round):

Women’s singles: 3-Saina Nehwal bt Olga Golovanova (Russia) 21-5, 21-4; 10-P V Sindhu bt Kaori Imabeppu (Japan) 21-19, 19-21, 21-17

Men’s singles: Ajay Jayaram lost to Pablo Abian (Spain) 21-9, 21-17

Men’s doubles: Arun Vishnu/K Tarun lost to 15-Alvent Yulianto Chandra/Markis Kido (Indonesia) 21-15, 13-21, 21-17

BWF World championship: Ajay upsets world number 12 in first round

Mumbai boy Ajay Jayaram fought back fatigue and an experienced opponent to bring alive his BWF World Championship campaign with a 22-20, 17-21, 21-15 victory over 12^th seed Wing Ki Wong of Hong Kong.

The 25-year-old, who had upset 15^th seed Kenechi Tago of Japan in the last edition of the championship at this very stage, went into the match as an underdog and many would not have given him much changes against a rally player, especially because he had barely recovered from illness a week ago and was to test his fitness for the first time in a competitive match.

Aware of his opponents rallying tactics and slow shuttle speed, Ajay took the initiative from the start and the game plan paid off as he earned four game points. However, a few errors from the Indian allowed Wong to stage a comeback and level the scores before Ajay managed to scrape through.

Ajay looked set to race through the match when he opened up a 13-8 lead in the second game but began losing patience as Wong began engaging him in long rallies and the Indian Oil employee began to feel tired.

To Ajay’s credit, the 2010 Czech International champion quickly regained his composure after change of ends and concentrated on keeping down the errors and finally prevailed 21-15 to set up a second round clash against the winner of the match between Spain’s Pablo Abian and Osleni Guerrero of Cuba.

“I am very happy with my performance today. I fought hard both mentally and physically. I dug in deep in the decider, keeping the shuttle in play... I need to play with the same focus and composure in the next round as well,” he added.

In the other men’s singles match, 13^th seed P Kashyap had to rally from a game down to beat Estonia’s Raul Must 19-21, 21-14, 21-9 to set up a second round clash against Petr Koukal of Czech Republic.

While Ajay and Kashyap made a winning start, India’s challenge in mixed doubles and women’s doubles came to a tame end in the first round itself.

Results (first round):

Men’s singles: Ajay Jayaram bt 12-Wing Ki Wong (HKG) 22-20, 17-21, 21-15; 13-P Kashyap bt  Raul Must (EST) 19-21, 21-14, 21-9

Mixed doubles: Aparna Balan/Arun Vishnu lost to Min Chun Liao/Hsiao Huan Chen (TPE) 21-16, 21-16; Ashwini Ponnappa/K Tarun lost to Miyuki Maeda/Hirokatsu Hashimoto 21-18, 12-21, 21-19

Women’s doubles: Aparna Balan/N Sikki Reddy lost to Lauren Smith/Gabrielle White (ENG) 21-15, 21-17; Ashwini Ponnappa/Pradnya Gadre lost to Line Damkjaer Kruse/Marie Roepke 21-23, 21-18, 21-17

Qualifiers Rahul, Chahal upset seeds in first round of All India senior ranking meet

Qualifiers C Rahul Yadav and Ketan Chahal upset the applecart of fourth seed Shreyansh Jaiswal and ninth seed B Chetan Anand in the men’s singles first round to bring the V V Natu Memorial Amanora All India Badminton Senior Ranking tournament to life at the WIE Complex here on Friday.

The tournament is being organised by Poona District & Metropolitan Badminton Association under the auspices of Maharashtra Badminton Association and the Badminton Association of India.

In the women’s singles event, Maharashtra’s Karishma Wadkar upset 16th seed G M Nischitha, while seventh seed Saili Rane was given marching orders by former national champion Aditi Mutatkar, who had to come through qualifying because she had been out of action for over five months due to injury.

However, the stars of the day were undoubtedly Rahul and Chahal, who showed no nerves while taking on much higher ranked players.

Sixteen-year-old Rahul, who trains at the Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad, staved off pressure on the closing stages of both games to get the better of Jaiswal 22-20, 21-19. He will now face H S Prannoy in the second round.

In the other first round game, Chahal stunned multiple time national champion Chetan 21-14. 16-21, 21-16 in 50 minutes. Chahal showed that he had a lot more in the tank in the decider to get the better of a player who was once ranked among the top-20 in the world.

Chahal will now face Delhi’s Mayank Behal in the second round.

Maharashtra shuttlers have a good outing

Qualifiers Wadkar and Shlok Ramchandran led the charge of the hosts in the first round and came out triumphant against their senior challengers.

Sixteen-year-old Wadkar, who trains at the Shuttlecraze Badminton Academy in Mumbai, showed that age was no barrier as she not only matched Nischitha in the rallies but could even step on the accelerator when needed to win 21-12, 18-21, 21-8 in just 31 minutes.

In the men’s singles, Shlok hammered Nikhilesh Sharma 21-6, 21-7 to advance.

Asia U-19 championship: Ruthvika in girls singles quarters

National junior champion Ruthvika Shivani rallied from a game down to overcome Chinese Xinyuan Wang 18-21, 21-18, 21-16 to reach the quarterfinals of the Badminton Asia Youth (U-19) championship in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, on Friday.

The Gopichand Badminton Academy trainee will now take on top seed and world number 17 Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand for a berth in the semifinals.

However, Indian challenge in the boys singles came to an end at the pre-quarters when both junior national champion Harsheel Dani and sub junior national champion Aditya Joshi were sent packing in straight games.

Dani went down to Indonesia’s Mustofa Ihsan Maulana 21-17, 21-13 while Joshi lost 21-16, 21-12 against Tzu Wei Wang of Chinese Taipei.

Results (pre-quarterfinals):

Girls singles: 6-Ruthvika Shivani bt Xinyuan Wang (Chn) 18-21, 21-18, 21-16

Boys singles: 6-Harsheel Dani lost to Mustofa Ihsan Maulana (Ina) 17-21, 13-21; 15-Aditya Joshi lost to 7-Tzu Wei Wang (Tpe) 16-21, 12-21

Asia U-19 championship: Dani saves match point to advance

Junior national champion Harsheel Dani saved a match point before getting the better of Vietnam’s Cao Cuong Pham 18-21, 23-21, 21-16 in an hour and two minutes to reach the fourth round of the Badminton Asia Youth (U-19) championship in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, on Thursday.

The Air India shuttler will now face 14^th seed Mustofa Ihsan Maulana of Indonesia, who got the better of China’s Zheng Siwei 16-21, 21-14, 24-22 in the third round.

Also advancing were sub junior national champion Aditya Joshi and junior girls champion G Ruthvika Shivani. Joshi defeated Zin Rei Ryan Ng of Singapore 21-15, 21-17, while Ruthvika got the better of Jia Min Yeo 10-21, 21-14, 21-12.

Joshi will now take on seventh seed Tzu Wei Wang of Chinese Taipei for a berth in the quarterfinals while Ruthvika meets China’s Xinyuan Wang in the pre-quarterfinals.

Results:

Boys singles (third round): 6-Harsheel Dani bt Cao Cuong Pham (Vie) 18-21, 23-21, 21-16; 15-Aditya Joshi bt Zin Rei Ryan Ng (Sin) 21-15, 21-17; Arun George lost to 4-Heo Kwang Hee (Kor) 15-21, 13-21

Girls singles (second round): 6-Ruthvika Shivani bt Jia Min Yeo (Sin) 10-21, 21-14, 21-12; Reshma Karthik lost to Lee Ying Ying (Mas) 15-21, 21-18, 19-21; Shreyanshi Pardeshi lost to 7-Sarita Suwannakitborihan (Tha) 11-21, 11-21.

Mixed doubles (second round): Santosh Ravuri/Poorvisha S Ram lost to Rafiddias Nugroho/Setyana Mapasa (Ina) 12-21, 15-21; Shlok Ramchandran/Riya Mukherjee lost to Zi Jian Tan/Jing Feng Seah (Sin) 10-21, 18-21; Vinay Kumar Singh/Kuhoo Garg lost to Zin Rei Ryan Ng/Jia Min Yeo (Sin) 15-21, 23-25; Sanyam Shukla/J Meghana lost to Sutichon Pol Gul/Lam Narissapat (Tha) 16-21, 18-21.

Asia U-19 championship: Reshma, Ruthvika, Dani make a winning start

Bangalore girl Reshma Karthik made a promising start to her Badminton Asia Youth (U-19) championship on Wednesday when she got the better of the experienced Sapniti Alisa of Thailand 21-13, 11-21, 21-19 in the first round of the girl’s singles event in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

Reshma, who is playing her first Asian championship, did not show any nerves as she overcame the world number 151 in 48 minutes to set up a second round clash against Lee Ying Ying of Malaysia.

The other members of the Indian contingent also made a positive start to their campaign with junior national champions Harsheel Dani and Ruthvika Shivani registering comfortable victories.

While sixth seed Dani got the better of U Leong IEK of Macau 21-14, 21-11 in the boy’s singles second round, Ruthvika hammered Sok Man Wong of Macau 21-9, 21-14 in the girl’s singles first round.

Shubhankar Dey wins Kenya international singles title

India’s Subhankar Dey halted the giant killing run of Nigeria’s Gideon Babalola 21-19, 21-19 to lift the Kenya International badminton championship in Nairobi on Sunday.

The 20-year-old, who now trains at Tom John’s badminton academy in Bangalore, had gone to Kenya with an aim to earn valuable ranking points and would be happy to claim the title in a tournament that saw some of the lesser known players stretching him in the earlier rounds.

Dey will earn 1700 ranking points for his effort and should help him close in on his target to break into top 100 in the next few months.

Aditya Joshi, Reshma Karthik bag u-19 titles

Sub junior national champion Aditya joshi and Reshma Karthik, both from Air India, bagged the u-19 boys and girls singles titles in the All India Junior Ranking badminton tournament in Hyderabad on Saturday.

Joshi, who had to settle for the runners up spot in the junior nationals last year, avenged the loss in Imphal against his teammate Harsheel Dani 18-21, 21-10, 21-18 in an hour long encounter, while Reshma upset junior national champion and top seed G Ruthiva Shivani 21-18, 21-16 in just 36 minutes.

The loss also ended Ruthvika’s hopes of bagging the double crown, having won the girls u-17 singles final against third seed Shriyanshi Pardeshi 21-18, 18-21, 21-13.

Second seed S Daniel Farid claimed the u-17 boys singles title with a 21-14, 21-17 victory over Sankeerth BR.

Final results:

U-17:

Boys singles: S Daniel Farid bt BR Sankeerth 21-14, 21-17

Boys doubles: Chirag Shetty/M R Arjun bt Rohan Kapoor/Saurabh Sharma 21-15, 13-21, 21-13

Girls singles: Ruthvika Shivai bt Shriyanshi Pardeshi 21-18, 18-21, 21-13

Girls doubles: Mahima Aggarwal/Shikha Gautam bt Kanika Kanwal/Shriyanshi Pardeshi 21-11, 21-15

U-19

Boys singles: Aditya Joshi bt Harsheel Dani 18-21, 21-10, 21-18

Boys doubles: K Chaitanya Reddy/Santosh Ravuri bt Shyam Prasad/Shlok Ramchandran 14-21, 22-20, 21-18

Girls singles: Reshma Karthik bt Ruthvika Shivani 21-18, 21-16

Girls doubles: J Meghana/K Maneesha bt Sruthi KP/Farha Mather 21-16, 21-18

Mixed doubles: Sanyam Shukla/J Meghana bt Santosh Ravuri/K Maneesha 25-23, 29-27

Harsheel, Ruthvika to lead Indian challenge at BAC Youth (U-19) championship

Junior National champions Harsheel Dani of Air India and Ruthvika Shivani of Andhra Pradesh will lead the Indian contingent in the Badminton Asia youth (U-19) championship to be held in Sabah, Malaysia from July 7-14.
The championship will be played in two parts with the mixed team competition being played from June 7-10 followed by the individual championship.
India had failed to qualify for the knock out stage in the mixed team competition in the last edition in Korea, losing both their group matches. However, PV Sindhu had become the first Indian women's singles shuttler to win the individual singles title.

India Team: 

Boys: Harsheel Dani, Aditya Joshi, Arun George, Arsalan Naqvi, Shyam Prasad, Shlok Ramchandran, Sanyam Shukla, Vinay Kumar Singh, K Chaitanya Reddy, Santosh Ravuri.
Girls: Ruthvika Shivani, Rituparna Das, Reshma Karthik, Shreyanshi Pardeshi, J Meghna, K Maneesha, Poorvisha S Ram, Kuhoo Garg, Riya Mukherjee

After Srikanth, brother Nanda Gopal brings home a title

Hours after his brother K Srikanth bagged the men’s singles crown in the Thailand Grand Prix Gold in Bangkok, K Nanda Gopal made it a day to remember for the family by teaming up with K Maneesha to lift the mixed doubles crown in the Maldives International Badminton Challenge in Male.
Unseeded Nanda Gopal and Maneesha got the better of the Korean combination of Dae Sung Kim and Bo Kyung Oh 21-16, 23-21 in 40 minutes for their maiden international title.
Incidentally, Srikanth’s had won the men’s singles title of this very tournament last year and his career graph has only seen an upward trend since then.
Both Srikanth and Nanda Gopal had reached the semifinals of the senior nationals in Srinagar in October last year after which Nanda Gopal decided to concentrate on doubles.
In fact, during their junior days, Srikanth would partner Maneesha in the mixed doubles category and it was the first time Maneesha and Nanda Gopal took the court together on the international stage.

Injured Sindhu to skip Indonesia Super Series Premier

Malaysia Grand Prix Gold champion P V Sindhu would skip the Indonesia Super Series Premier badminton tournament to be played next week in Jakarta after failing to recover completely from a knee injury.
The Asian junior champion, who had suffered a niggle last month and further aggravated it at the Sudirman Cup mixed team championship in Malaysia, had also pulled out of the Thailand Grand Prix Gold this week.
Confirming this, chief national coach Pullela Gopi Chand said Sindhu had started training in the last few days but she was not 100 per cent and hence would pull out of the Indonesia Open.
“The call over her Singapore Super Series participation (that will follow the Indonesia Open) would be taken in a few days after seeing her progress in practice,” he added.

Srikanth bags Thailand GP Gold crown

K Srikanth became only the second Indian men’s singles badminton player to lift a Grand Prix Gold title when the 20-year-old upset world number seven and top seed Boonsak Ponsana in his own backyard at the Thailand Open in Bangkok on Sunday.
The 13th seed, who trains at the Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad,

K Srikanth with the Thailand GP Gold trophy

got the better of the experienced Ponsana 21-16, 21-12 in just 34 minutes to clinch the crown without dropping a single game in the entire tournament.
The Grand Prix Gold event is just one rung below the coveted Super Series circuit in the Badminton World Federation’s tournament structure. National champion P Kashyap is the only other Indian to win a GP Gold title when he bagged the Syed Modi GP Gold crown in Lucknow last year.
In fact, Srikanth’s effort is all the more commendable since no Indian men’s singles player has won a tournament about the Grand Prix level outside India since Pullela Gopi Chand’s All England triumph in 2001.
In the final, Srikanth adopted an aggressive strategy against the wily Thai and the approach paid dividend as the Indian dominated the match throughout.
Understandably national coach Pullela Gopi Chand was elated with the victory and said it was a well thought out strategy to attack Ponsana as the courts were faster in Bangkok.
“We had discussed the way we wanted to approach the match yesterday. Earlier when Indian players had beaten Boonsak, the courts were slow and they had managed to tire him out. But here Srikanth had to dominate the net exchanges and he did that well,” he added.

Injured Saina to skip Sudirman Cup

World number 2 Saina Nehwal would skip the Sudirman Cup Mixed team championship to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from May 19-25 after failing to recover completely from a hairline fracture to the small finger in her leg.
Saina had suffered the hairline fracture during the India Open and was advised two weeks rest. Though she has started training a bit, she is unlikely to recover completely for the biennial tournament.
Confirming the news, Saina said, "It's a small finger of leg which got fractured during the India Open. It's just a hairline fracture, but I have still not recovered from it."
India have been placed in one of the toughest group alongside China and Indonesia for this year's championship.
BAI sources said they are unlikely to name any replacement for Saina in the squad as Malaysian Grand Prix Gold champion P V Sindhu can shoulder the responsibility of playing the singles matches.

Indian squad:

Men: Parupalli Kashyap, Anand Pawar, Akshay Dewalkar, Pranav Chopra, K Tarun and Arun Vishnu.
Women: PV Sindhu, Ashwini Ponnappa, Pradnya Gadre, Sikki Reddy and Aparna Balan.

Ashwini-Pradnya make the Chinese bite dust in Malaysia Super Series

The new look Indian combination of Ashwini Ponnapaa and Pradnya Gadre once again proved that they have the potential to make a mark on the international circuit when they upset sixth seed and two time Super Series winners Ma Jin and Junhua Tang of China 22-24, 21-16, 21-19 in the second round of the Malaysia Super Series.

World number 118 combination of Ashwini and Pradnya came together after the senior nationals in October and the victory over the Chinese combination is all the more special because this is only their third tournament together.

Ashwini was forced to look for a new partner after Jwala Gutta, whom she pair with for the London Olympics, decided to take a break for badminton in August.

Ashwini and Pradnya, who had also reached the quarterfinals of the Macau Open GP Gold, clearly went into the second round match as underdogs against the Chinese combination which had won two Super Series and reached the final of last week’s Korea Open Super Series Premier.

But the Indians were determined to take the fight to their oppositions and the intent was clear in the first game itself when they matched their more experienced opponents in the first game. Though the Chinese managed to scrape through on their fifth game point, the Indians came back strongly to take the next two and set up a quarterfinal clash against the Indonesian combination of Vita Marissa and Aprilsasi Variella.

In the women’s singles, top seed Saina Nehwal took her designated spot in the quarterfinals with a 21-12, 21-9 victory over Pui Yin Yip of Hong Kong and will now take on Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara for a berth in the semifinal.

However, the Indian challenge in men’s singles came to an end with the defeats of P Kashyap and RMV Guru Sai Dutt.