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