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