The Hindu : Sport / Badminton : Vidyadhar stuns Kashyap, enters final

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Sunday, Jan 06, 2008
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Vidyadhar stuns Kashyap, enters final

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Seventh-seeded J.B.S. Vidyadhar of Andhra upset Statemate and second seed P. Kashyap 22-20, 16-21, 21-15 in the semifinals of the all-India Pramod Mahajan memorial badminton tournament at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here on Saturday.

Having lost to Kashyap in the final of the last tournament in Pune, Vidyadhar was indeed wary at the start, but had the confidence in his smashes and fitness to come up trumps.

Vidyadhar was at his crafty best in the climax.

“The key to my success was the way I started, showing a lot of patience. I was able to tackle his game better today. In Pune, I had played tough matches before playing him and thus was not as energetic in the final,” said Vidyadhar, quite pleased with his performance and charged up about facing top seed Anup Sridhar in the final.

Sridhar gave a glimpse of his prowess, as he bounced back from a sedate start when he had slipped to an eight-point deficit, to eventually outclass the fifth-seeded Arvind Bhat 21-19, 21-16 in the other semifinal earlier in the evening.

It’s Saina vs. Sayali

In the women’s semifinals, top-seeded Saina Nehwal was stretched to three games by the third-seeded Aditi Mutatkar, while Sayali Gokhale fought back after dropping the first game to pip Dhanya Nair in another three-game thriller.

Saina pulled out her best game after being down 9-11 in the second game, on losing the first, to outplay an opponent who lacked the conviction and consistent energy in her game to produce an upset.

In the other match, Sayali did slip from 18-17 in the first game, but was so strong thereafter that Dhanya was always struggling to catch up though she did very well to stay close till 18-19 in the decider.

The results (semifinals): Men: Anup Sridhar bt Arvind Bhat 21-19, 21-16; J.B.S. Vidyadhar bt P. Kashyap 22-20, 16-21, 21-15.

Women: Saina Nehwal bt Aditi Mutatkar 18-21, 21-13, 21-12; Sayali Gokhale bt Dhanya Nair 18-21, 21-6, 21-18.

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