The Hindu : Sport / Badminton : Lim Kenn upsets Abhinn Shyam

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Oct 22, 2005

Sport

Sport - Badminton

Lim Kenn upsets Abhinn Shyam

Rakesh Rao

NEW DELHI: Little-known Malaysian Lim Kenn added to the woes of a struggling Abhinn Shyam Gupta by inflicting a stunning defeat in an eventful quarterfinal clash of the Asian Satellite badminton championship at the Siri Fort Indoor Stadium here on Friday.

Before the Indian girls monopolized the quarterfinal spots, the fifth seeded Lim came out limping after a 15-2, 15-10 verdict in what turned out to be the match of the day.

Lim controlled the net superbly and repeatedly caught the former National champion weak on defence. Abhinn, who for the past decade has enjoyed the reputation of being a `returning machine' and someone who tires out his rival before winning on superior staying power, showed no signs of reproducing the magic of old.

In the first game, Lim broke away from 6-3. In the second, it was not much different with the Malaysian leading 13-1.

In fact, if Abhinn managed to add respectability to the score-line in the second game, it was only after Lim twisted his ankle while going for an overhead return at 11-1. After receiving medical attention, Lim returned to the court and in spite of being uncomfortable, reached match-point at 14-2. However, in his anxiety to finish the match, Lim served into the net.

Warning

Thereafter, Lim squandered four more match-points and in the process, allowed Abhinn to close the gap. Serving at 14-9, Lim received a warning from the chair-umpire for misconduct (for using delaying tactics).

The results (Indians unless stated): Men's singles (quarterfinals): Lim Kenn (Mas) bt Abhinn Shyam Gupta 15-2, 15-10; Anand Pawar bt Sachin Ratti 15-3, 15-7; Thomas Kurian bt Ajay Jayaram 15-4, 15-11; Golam Reza Bagheri (Iri) bt Sagar Chopda 15-10, 15-7; (pre-quarterfinals): Abhinn bt Jishnu Sanyal 15-12, 9-2 (retd.); Lim Kenn bt Ravindra Singh 15-12, 15-12; Ratti bt P. Kashyap 14-17, 15-6, 15-7; Pawar bt K. Tanishak 15-3, 17-14; Jayaram bt Utsav Mishra 15-9 (retd.); Kurian bt Balram Thapa (Nep) 15-1, 15-3; Bageri bt Zeeshan Omar 15-8, 1-3; Chopda bt Hemant Duggal 15-11, 15-12.

Women's singles (pre-quarterfinals): Aparna Popat bt Aditi Mutatkar 11-7, 13-12; Dhanya Nair bt Gayatri Kochak 11-5, 11-5; B. R. Meenakshi bt Norsyahliza Baharum (Mas) 5-11, 11-7, 11-8; Neha Makwana bt Akansha Nehra 11-2, 11-3; Saina Nehwal bt Wong Pei Zian (Mas) 11-9, 7-11, 11-8; Bibari Basumatari bt Thilini Jayasinghe (Sri) 3-11, 11-3, 11-4; Aparna Balan bt Krishna Dekaraja 2-11, 11-1, 11-4; Trupti Murgunde bt Anita Ohlan 11-3, 11-7; (second round): Aditi bt Sulochana Ariyadasa (Sri) 11-3, 11-0; Gayatri bt Behnaz Perzamanbin (Iri) 11-8, 13-10; Dhanya bt Usma Butt (Pak) 13-11, 11-5; Norsyahliza bt Chitralekha 13-10, 11-4; Akansha bt Krattika Gautam 11-6, 11-3; Neha bt Aisha Akram (Pak) 11-5, 11-8; Saina bt Nigin Amirpour (Iri) 11-2, 11-0; Wong bt Sayali Gokhale 11-9, 11-2; Bibari bt Aditi Biswas 11-0, 11-2; Thilini bt Sara Mahmood (Pak) 11-0, 11-3; Aparna Balan bt Parul Rawat 11-6, 11-5.

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