The Hindu : Sport / Badminton : Sayali stuns Trupti

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Sayali stuns Trupti

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Sayali Gokhale surprised herself by pulling off an impressive 11-21, 21-16, 21-16 victory over the second-seeded Trupti Murgunde in the women’s quarterfinals of the all-India Rs. 9,00,000 Pramod Mahajan memorial badminton tournament at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here on Friday.

After a sedate start, Sayali, plagued by a lower back pain that required precautionary treatment during the match, got her act together towards the end of both the second and third games to turn the tide in her favour.

Quite pleased about winning her first-ever game against the wiry opponent, Sayali kept close to Trupti in the third game till 16-16 before pulling through in the climax without even a token of fight from across the net. Trupti was not sharp, to put it mildly, while facing the threat of an early elimination.

“This is my best performance at this level, and I look forward to a good match in the semifinals,” said Sayali, who would be meeting Dhanya Nair in the next round.

A Railway employee, Dhanya herself had to ward off a stiff challenge from the left-handed N. Sikki Reddy. She did so with an all-round game that took the sting out of her inexperienced opponent in the climax.

Cruising home

In the other semifinal, the top-seeded Saina Nehwal is pitted against the third-seeded Aditi Mutatkar. Both cruised home in the quarterfinals, conserving their best for the business end of the competition.

In the men’s section, the strapping fifth-seeded Arvind Bhatt proved quite smart for the fourth-seeded Anand Pawar in an absorbing encounter. He will have an interesting face-off against the top-seeded Anup Sridhar who slipped into a higher gear at 15-15 in the first game to outplay the tenacious K. Tanishk of Andhra Pradesh.

Tanish, with a solid smash and a sharp game, had it in him to stretch the top seed, but seemed to lack the confidence and energy.

After a good show in the beginning, it ended rather tamely when Tanishk let Anup win 15 points and claiming a mere three himself. To his credit, Anup stepped up his game at a crucial juncture.

Thrilling fare

The second-seeded Kashyap will meet the seventh-seeded J. B. S. Vidyadhar who prevailed in a three-game thriller against Ajay Jayaram. The latter had put out the third-seeded Chetan Anand in the second round.

The results (quarterfinals):

Men: Anup Sridhar bt K. Tanishk 21-17, 21-7; Arvind Bhatt bt Anand Pawar 21-14, 21-19; J. B. S. Vidyadhar bt Ajay Jayaram 11-21, 21-18, 21-11; P. Kashyap bt Sachin Ratti 21-17, 21-11.

Women: Saina Nehwal bt Anita Ohlan 21-8, 21-4; Aditi Mutatkar bt Abantika Deka 21-10, 21-11; Dhanya Nair bt N. Sikki Reddy 21-14, 15-21, 21-13; Sayali Gokhale bt Trupti Murgunde 11-21, 21-16, 21-16.

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