Saina, Sindhu advance; Kahsyap out of India GP
24 Jan 2014 6:06 AM IST
The $120,000 tournament sprang to life when 16h seed Shubhakar Dey packed off second seed Ajay Jayaram 21-19, 21-17 and then 12th seed Zulfadli Zulkiffli of Malaysia accounted for top seed Kashyap 21-16, 21-12.
While the top two seeds struggled, third seed RMV Guru Sai Dutt and fourth seed Anand Pawar did put up a fight but suffered a similar fate.
Pawar saved three game points in the first game but could not stop the march of Malaysia’s Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin as he lost 22-20, 21-11. Later in the day, 11th seed B Sai Praneeth rallied after losing the first game to get the better of Guru Sai Dutt 15-21, 21-9, 21-16 to advance to the quarterfinals.
He will now face Thailand Grand Prix Gold champion and sixth seed K Srikanth in the quarterfinals. Srikanth had to save four match points in the second game and then went on to waste four in the decider before getting the better of 14th seed Arvind Bhat 19-21, 23-21, 24-22 in an hour and 11 minutes.
In the women’s section, top seed Saina continued her march towards the season’s first title with a 21-5, 21-10 victory over Russia’s Natalia Perminova in just 28 minutes to set up a quarterfinal clash against fifth seed Ballaetrix Manuputty of Indonesia.
Joining her in the last eight were, second seed PV Sindhu and Arundhati Pantawane. Sindhu defeated Sabrina Jaquet of Switzerland 21-19, 21-5 in the pre-quarterfinals while Arundhati got the better of Thailand’s Natcha Saengchote 21-13, 21-11.
Saina slips further to 9th in BWF rankings
NEW DELHI: India’s Olympic bronze medallist shuttler Saina Nehwal dropped a place to be at ninth position, while PV Sindhu retained her 11th spot in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings issued on Thursday.
Saina’s indifferent form continued with her defeat in the second round of Malaysia Open Super Series Premier last week, which impacted her rankings. Saina, who had endured a tough season last year where she could not win a single title, was overtaken by Juliane Schenk of Germany.
The 23-year-old girl from Hyderabad is currently playing in the India Grand Prix Gold and she will be hoping for a strong finish in the tournament to climb the ladder once again.
World Championship bronze medallist Sindhu, who also lost in the second round of Malaysian Open, however, managed to maintain No.11 ranking.
On the other hand, top male shuttler Parupalli Kashyap jumped two places to be at No. 18, while Mumbai’s Ajay Jayaram moved up a place to be at 21th position. No Indians figure in the top 25 of the men’s, women’s or mixed doubles rankings. Indians will try to develop their rankings in 2014 and need a lot of work in setting the bar high for themselves.
While the top two seeds struggled, third seed RMV Guru Sai Dutt and fourth seed Anand Pawar did put up a fight but suffered a similar fate.
Pawar saved three game points in the first game but could not stop the march of Malaysia’s Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin as he lost 22-20, 21-11. Later in the day, 11th seed B Sai Praneeth rallied after losing the first game to get the better of Guru Sai Dutt 15-21, 21-9, 21-16 to advance to the quarterfinals.
He will now face Thailand Grand Prix Gold champion and sixth seed K Srikanth in the quarterfinals. Srikanth had to save four match points in the second game and then went on to waste four in the decider before getting the better of 14th seed Arvind Bhat 19-21, 23-21, 24-22 in an hour and 11 minutes.
In the women’s section, top seed Saina continued her march towards the season’s first title with a 21-5, 21-10 victory over Russia’s Natalia Perminova in just 28 minutes to set up a quarterfinal clash against fifth seed Ballaetrix Manuputty of Indonesia.
Joining her in the last eight were, second seed PV Sindhu and Arundhati Pantawane. Sindhu defeated Sabrina Jaquet of Switzerland 21-19, 21-5 in the pre-quarterfinals while Arundhati got the better of Thailand’s Natcha Saengchote 21-13, 21-11.
Saina slips further to 9th in BWF rankings
NEW DELHI: India’s Olympic bronze medallist shuttler Saina Nehwal dropped a place to be at ninth position, while PV Sindhu retained her 11th spot in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings issued on Thursday.
Saina’s indifferent form continued with her defeat in the second round of Malaysia Open Super Series Premier last week, which impacted her rankings. Saina, who had endured a tough season last year where she could not win a single title, was overtaken by Juliane Schenk of Germany.
The 23-year-old girl from Hyderabad is currently playing in the India Grand Prix Gold and she will be hoping for a strong finish in the tournament to climb the ladder once again.
World Championship bronze medallist Sindhu, who also lost in the second round of Malaysian Open, however, managed to maintain No.11 ranking.
On the other hand, top male shuttler Parupalli Kashyap jumped two places to be at No. 18, while Mumbai’s Ajay Jayaram moved up a place to be at 21th position. No Indians figure in the top 25 of the men’s, women’s or mixed doubles rankings. Indians will try to develop their rankings in 2014 and need a lot of work in setting the bar high for themselves.
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