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.