The Hindu : Sport / Badminton : Andhra Pradesh in all finals

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Monday, Sep 29, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh in all finals

Principal Correspondent

TN waged a spirited battle against Karnataka
It will be Karnataka vs AP in the finals

PUDUCHERRY: Andhra Pradesh entered the finals in all the four categories of the South Zone inter-state badminton championship at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium here on Sunday.

Of all its matches, AP was stretched the most in the men’s section. Tamil Nadu men, much against popular perception, did not bow out meekly to one of the fancied teams in the tournament — Karnataka. It waged a spirited battle and went down 2-3 with his head held high.

Siddharth Jain, the State No.1 player and former India No. 2, well past his prime, showed S.D.S. Krishna the art of court coverage and deception. The ONGC officer won quite convincingly 21-15, 21-12, thereby levelling the scores at one-each after Manikandan had lost to Mohit Kamat in straight games.

Karnataka’s doubles combination of Guru Prasad and Arun Vishnu put all their might to overcome the specialist pair of Vijay Anand and Vijay Aloysius 21-16, 21-16.

TN’s Aditya Elango gladdened the hearts of the fans with a pleasing display. Using the jump smashes judiciously and moving extremely well, the 19-year-old disposed of Abhijeeth Naimpalli 21-11, 21-12.

In the fifth and deciding match, Vineet Manuel and S.D.S. Krishna put paid to the hopes of TN entering the final with a 21-18, 21-19 win over Siddharth Jain and M.R. Manikandan.

It will be a Karnataka-AP affair in both the men’s and women’s finals.

The results (semifinals):

Men: Karnataka bt Tamil Nadu 3-2 (Mohit Kamat bt M.R. Manikandan 21-19, 21-10; S.D.S. Krishna lost to Siddharth Jain 15-21, 12-21; D. Guru Prasad & Arun Vishnu bt Vijay Anand & Vijay Aloysius 21-16, 21-16; Abhijeeth Naimpalli lost to Aditya Elango 11-21, 12-21; Vineet Manuel & S.D.S. Krishna bt Siddharth Jain & M.R. Manikandan 21-18, 21-19).

AP bt Kerala 3-1 (Vinay Kumar Reddy bt Thomas Kurien 21-19, 21-17; Guru Sai Dutt bt K.A. Aneesh 21-11, 21-15; N.N. Vinayak & Vinay Kumar Reddy lost to Jaseel P. Ismail & Thomas Kurien 16-21, 11-21; C.M. Sashidhar bt Sanave Thomas 21-14, 21-18).

Women: Karnataka bt Kerala 2-0 (B.R. Meenakshi bt P.C. Thulasi 21-17, 21-13; B.R. Meenakshi & Ashwini Ponappa bt Thulasi/Merit George 21-13, 21-12).

AP bt TN 2-0 (N. Sikki Reddy bt Hamsica 21-10, 21-14; Sikki Reddy & P.V. Sindhu bt Anees Kowsar & A. Priya 21-15, 21-17).

Junior boys: AP bt TN 2-0 (Guru Sai Dutt bt Satyanarayana Rao 21-6, 21-9; Guru Sai Dutt & Ravi Raj bt Manikandan/Satyanarayana Rao 21-12, 20-22, 21-16).

Karnataka bt Kerala 2-0 (Aditya Prakash bt Neeraj Rehman 21-10, 21-12; Aditya Prakash & Darshan Kulkarni bt H.S. Prannoy & Vishnu Prasad 21-14, 21-12).

Junior girls: AP bt Puducherry 2-0 (Sikki Reddy bt Rebecca 21-11, 21-14; P.V. Sindhu & K. Manisha bt Rebecca/Jayabharathi 21-16, 21-16).

Kerala bt Karnataka 2-0 (P.C. Thulasi bt Jacqueline Kenneth 21-19, 21-16; Thulasi & Daya Elsa Jacob bt Jacqueline Kenneth & Asfa Taqui 21-18, 21-18).

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