Kashyap out of China Open

India's challenge in the China Open Super Series Premier in Shanghai came to an end with P Kashyap succumbing to the guile of Zhengming Wang of China 21-17, 21-7 in the quarterfinals.
The London Olympics quarterfinalist couldn't be faulted for the effort he put in during the 34 minute encounter. But Wang was too good for the Indian.
Kashyap began on a promising note, matching his opponent stroke for stroke and even using his deceptive flicks to score a few points.
But slowly but surely Wang began to take control of the match with his smash-tap routine fetching him points in plenty at the business end of the first game.
The second game was mostly a one way affair with Kashyap showing sparks of brilliance during a few points but never enough to challenge the might of the Chinese opponent.

China Open: Kashyap reaches quarters

London Olympic quarterfinalist P Kashyap saved a match point before beating seventh seed Tien Minh Nguyen of Vietnam 12-21, 22-20, 21-14 to reach the quarterfinals of the China Open Super Series Premier in Shanghai on Thursday.
The Gopichand Badminton Academy trainee faced a match point in the second game at 19-20. But he not only saved the match point but went on to take the next two points to take the match in the decider, which he won relatively easily to set up a last eight clash against local hope Zhengming Wang.
However, it was curtains for India in all other events with mixed doubles combination of Pranav Chopra and Sikki Reddy and men's doubles pairing of Arun Vishnu and K Tarun falling in the second round.

China Open: Only Kashyap survives first day mayhem

The opening day of the China Open Super Series Premier turned out to be a forgettable day for the Indian contingent with only P Kashyap surviving the first round.

The London Olympics quarterfinalist got the better of Sweden’s Henri Hurskainen 21-15, 21-15 to set up a second round clash against seventh seed Tien Minh Nguyen of Vietnam, whom he had defeated in the group stages of the Olympic Games.

While Kashyap advanced, there was heartbreak for all the other singles players with P V Sindhu going down against Eriko Hirose of Japan 22-20, 14-21, 21-19 in women’s singles, Ajay Jayaram suffering a 21-18, 16-21, 21-14 reversal against Daren Liew of Malaysia and RMV Guru Sai Dutt beaten 11-21, 21-13, 21-11 by Takuma Ueda of Japan.

The doubles specialists also could not do much and were shown the door in the first round.

Air India, Andhra Pradesh bag team titles in junior nationals

Air India and Andhra Pradesh bagged the boy's and girl's team championships respectively in the Junior Inter-State team championship in Imphal, Manipur.
While Air India got the better of Chattisgarh 2-1 in the boy's final, the Andhra girls piped West Bengal by the same margin.

Sai Praneeth, Pantawane win singles titles in Bahrain International

India's B Sai Praneeth and Arundhati Pantawane bagged the men's and women's singles titles in the Bahrain International challenge badminton tournament with hard fought victories in the summit clash.
In the men's final, third seed Sai Praneeth rallied from a game down to get the better of top seed Niluka Karnaratne of Sri Lanka 14-21, 21-14, 21-17 while Nagpur girl Arundhati Pantawane fought back from a game down and a slump in the decider to get the better of Tanvi Lad 20-22, 21-12, 21-19 to lift the women's singles title.
Pantawane, a trainee of the Gopichand Academy, was staring defeat when she trailed 13-17 in the decider before the world number 51 fought back with a better tactical approach to win her maiden international title.
In the men's doubles, top seed Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas of Indiagot the better of K Nandagopal and Jishnu Sanyal 21-18, 19-21, 21-18 to lift the title. 

Injured Saina pulls out of China Open

Saina Nehwal has pulled out of the China Open Super Series Premier badminton tournament to be played in Shanghai from November 13-18 citing a knee injury.

The London Olympic bronze medallist had played with a strapped knee during the Denmark Super Series Premier, which she won, and the French Super Series in which she lost in the final.

The world number 3 has also submitted the medical certificate, which is a must for all top-10 players if they wish to withdraw from any Premier event.

According to the rules formulated by the Badminton World Federation, it is mandatory for all top-10 players to participate in Premier events – barring injuries -- and be part of the promotional activities two days prior to the tournament.

If Saina decides to stay away from the promotional activities then she will have to shell out $5000 as a fine. She had paid a similar fine in 2011 when she skipped the promotional events before the Super Series Finals.

Indian challenge ends in world juniors

India's challenge in the World Junior badminton championship in Chiba, Japan came to an end when the three boy's singles players were shown the door in the fourth round on Thursday.
Mumbai boy Harsheel Dani managed to stretch 5/8 seed Teck Zhi Soo of Malaysia for almost an hour but lost 21-13, 19-21, 21-15, while Rohit Yadav was no match to Chinese Xue Song, going down 21-10, 21-12 in 40 minutes.
In the other fourth round match, Pratul Joshi fought hard before surrendering 20-22, 21-16, 21-16 against Kwang Hee Heo of Korea.