The Hindu : Sport / Badminton : Chetan enters final

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Sunday, Apr 06, 2008
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Chetan enters final

V.V. Subrahmanyam

Has the chance to script history

— Photo: G. Krishnaswamy

CLINICAL DEMOLITION: Chetan Anand of India breezed past Andrew Smith of England in the semifinals in just 25 minutes.

HYDERABAD: Chetan Anand is just a step away from history. With a demolition act which lasted 25 minutes, the national champion outclassed the hapless Andrew Smith of England 21-6, 21-9, in the semifinals of the India Open Grand Prix badminton championship at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium here on Saturday.

The 27-year-old Indian now has the opportunity to win a Grand Prix. He was determined to silence his critics in his backyard and came up with an awesome display. All that Smith could do was watch his opponent reel off stunning strokes and the crowd cheer Chetan.

A mismatch

Though the contest was a mismatch, the fact that Chetan lifted his game by quite a few notches was very important. It was one of those matches which showed the opponent in poor light, but the Indian demonstrated his hunger and threw enough hints that he was in the mood for greater glory on the morrow.

The start was ominous for Smith as Chetan picked nine points in a row at one stage in the first game. It was a contrasting display — the Indian was on a different plane while the Englishman struggled to stay in the game.

Only when Chetan (World No. 71) made some unforced errors did Smith pick some points. With the exception of one powerful smash into the rival’s body, there was nothing much to rave about Smith’s game.

No recovery hopes

If Smith (World No. 35) entertained any hopes of a recovery in the second game, they quickly vanished as Chetan sustained his excellence. The deceptive serve, delectable drops, the half-smashes — they were all there.

“I expected a much tougher match. But, may be I played much better today. I am delighted once again for the wonderful crowd support,” Chetan said.

Indian legend Prakash Padukone said that it was a very good win. “Chetan is playing well and the final should be very interesting,” Padukone added.

The results (semifinals):

Men’s singles: Chetan Anand (Ind) bt Andrew Smith (Eng) 21-6, 21-9; Ponsana Boonsak (Tha) bt Sasaki Sho (Jpn) 19-21, 21-14, 21-15.

Doubles: Chew Eng Choon & Chan Chong Ming (Mas) bt Wijaya Candra (Ina) & Tony Gunawan (USA) 21-18, 9-21, 21-19; Zhendong Guo & Zhongbo Xie (Chn) bt Jae Sung Jung & Yong Dae Lee (Kor) 19-21, 21-9, 21-18.

Women’s singles: Zhou Mi (Hkg) bt Eriko Hirose (Chn) 18-21, 21-12, 21-12; Lu Lan (Chn) bt Zhu Lin (Chn) 17-21, 21-7, 21-10.

Doubles: Chien Yu Chin & Cheng Wen Hsing (Tpe) bt Sari Shinta Mulia & Yao Lei (Sin) 21-13, 21-17; Maeda Miyuka & Suetsuna Satoko (Jpn) bt Augustyn Kamila & Kostiuczyk Nadieza (Pol) 21-18, 21-17.

Mixed doubles: He Hanbin & YuYang (Chn) bt Mateusiak Robert & Kostiucyzk Nadiezda (Pol) 21-14, 21-19; Hopp Kristof & Overzier Birgit (Ger) bt Fang Chieh Min & Cheng Wen Hsing (Tpe) 21-19, 22-20.

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