The Hindu : Sport / Badminton : Anup Sridhar sweats past Sagar

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Friday, Jan 04, 2008
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Anup Sridhar sweats past Sagar

Special Correspondent

Saina warmed up with a facile win over Ashwini
Ajay defeated Chetan Anand in straight games

NEW DELHI: Anup Sridhar did not sport his best touch but was at his fighting best as he pipped Sagar Chopda 21-16, 19-21, 21-15 in the men’s pre-quarterfinals of the all-India Rs.900,000 Pramod Mahajan memorial badminton tournament at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here on Thursday.

Quite upset with a few line calls and his own inability to control the match the way he would have liked, Anup handled the climax better even as he extended more respect to his opponent who had not taken a game off him in any of their previous meetings.

For someone who had admirably controlled his nerves after losing the advantage from a 19-16 lead in the second game to eventually pull it off, Sagar could not provide a matching fare at the crunch in the third game after Anup had taken a 9-3 lead with a seven-point string.

“The only shot that I was really confident of today was my smash. I think, early on I was hitting without getting into position.

“He has a good defence and is capable of beating anybody. Winning such match means a lot to me and adds to my confidence,” said Anup, as he praised Sagar for the good fight.

In other notable second round matches, Ajay Jayaram put it past B. Chetan Anand in straight games; Arvind Bhatt was pushed to his wit’s end by the young R. M. V. Guru Sai Datt before he prevailed 23-21 in the decider.

K. Tanishk had to sweat it out against qualifier Srujan Nandaluri in another three-game thriller.

In the women’s section, Saina Nehwal warmed up with an easy victory over Ashwini Ponnappa in the pre-quarterfinals after a bye in the first round, while qualifier Sikki Reddy put it past Aparna Balan with calm assurance.

The results:

Men (pre-quarterfinals):

Anup Sridhar bt Sagar Chopda 21-16, 19-21, 21-15; K. Tanishk bt Srujan Nandaluri 21-17, 14-21, 22-20; Anand Pawar bt Tanveer Gill 21-11, 21-12; Arvind Bhatt bt R. M. V. Guru Sai Datt 22-20, 18-21, 23-21; J. B. S. Vidyadhar bt Utsav Mishra 18-21, 21-19, 21-13; Ajay Jayaram bt Chetan Anand 21-13, 26-24; Sachin Ratti bt Hemant Duggal 21-11, 21-12; P. Kashyap bt Jishnu Sanyal 21-13, 21-12.

First round: Anup Sridhar bt Sumit Dahiya 21-14, 21-10; Sagar Chopda bt Himanshu Kharbanda 21-15, 21-17; Srujan Nandaluri bt Ravinder Singh 21-16, 21-19; K. Tanishk bt Ajit Vijetilak 22-20, 21-19; Anand Pawar bt Arup Baidya 21-18, 21-5.

Tanveer Gill bt Mayank Behal 7-21, 21-19, 21-13; Arvind Bhatt bt N. N. Vinayak 21-10, 21-16; R. M. V. Guru Sai Datt bt Rajiv Bajaj 21-19, 21-13; Utsav Mishra bt Manish Rawat 18-21, 21-10, 21-16.

J. B. S. Vidyadhar bt Anshuman Hazarika 21-15, 21-19; Ajay Jayaram bt Saurav Kapoor 21-17, 21-12; Chetan Anand bt V. Amar 21-11, 21-14; Hemant Duggal bt C. M. Shashidhar 21-15, 21-12; Sachin Ratti bt Rohit Ranaut 21-10, 21-5; Jishnu Sanyal bt Mohit Kamat 5-5 (retired); P. Kashyap bt Abhinn Shyam Gupta 23-21, 21-16.

Women (pre-quarterfinals): Saina Nehwal bt Ashwini Ponnappa 21-3, 21-11; Anita Ohlan bt Gayatri Vartak 21-17, 21-18; Aditi Mutatkar bt Parssa Naqvi 21-12, 17-21, 21-12; Abantika Deka bt Parul Rawat 21-17, 21-13; Dhanya Nair bt B. R. Meenakshi 23-21, 21-12.

Sikki Reddy bt Aparna Balan 21-14, 21-19; Sayali Gokhale bt Chitralekha 21-12, 11-21, 21-8; Trupti Murgunde bt Neha Pandit 21-13, 21-4.

First round:

Ashwini Ponnappa bt Manali Sinha 21-16, 21-11; Anita Ohlan bt Gauri Chopra 21-5, 21-9; Parssa Naqvi bt Poonam Tewari 21-16, 24-22; Abantika Deka bt Saumya Padhye 21-17, 24-22; B. R. Meenakshi bt Sampada Sahasrabuddhe 21-9, 21-9; N. Sikki Reddy bt Mohita Sahdev 21-15, 21-18; Chitralekha bt V. Ruth Misha 21-18, 21-13; Neha Pandit bt Gayatri Kochak 21-13, 21-15.

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