Sindhu sails, Chetan out
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Dec. 16: On a day of upsets, much to the disappointment of fans, second seed and defending champion Chetan Anand crashed out of the Indian Open Grand Prix tournament being held at the Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy Indoor Stadium here on Thursday.
Suppanyu Avihingsanon of Thailand packed off Chetan 21-15, 21-15 in 29 minutes.
While top seed Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka of Indonesia and third seed Parupalli Kashyap of India continued their winning spree, Ajay Jayaram, who was seeded five, retired from his game due to back pain while his opponent Elango Aditya advanced to the next round.
In-form Kashyap crushed H.S. Prannoy 21-15, 21-13 in a match that lasted 30 minutes. “Tomorrow’s will be comparatively tough as I will play Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia, a good player,” said Kashyap.
Arvind Bhat lived up to his billing by ousting Zi Liang Derek Wong of Singapore 19-21, 21-10, 23-21 in a thrilling encounter.
Usually marred by pressure, Arvind adopted a cautious approach after losing the first game narrowly, 19-21.
However, he showed superiority over the Singaporean by wrapping up the second game 21-10. The decider was a thriller as Wong fought till the last only to be robbed of victory due to his own service which failed to cross the net.
“I did get tense when our match reached game point in the final one, but I think my opponent was more nervous,” Arvind said.
Hyderabad’s P.V. Sindhu registered a much deserved 21-16, 21-10 victory over Febby Angguni of Indonesia in a women’s singles match. The lean 15-year-old was ahead all through, opening up a 7-0 lead and then making it 21-10 for a quarterfinal berth. “In the first game, I just observed and analysed her game. The second game was much easier and I am happy to beat her especially since she is a senior player,” said Sindhu.
Indonesian mixed doubles pair of Devin Lahardi Fitriawan and Shendy Puspa Irawati prevailed over top seeds Patipat Chalardchaleam and Savitree Amitapai 19-21, 21-18, 23-21 in the pre-quarterfinals.
In another match, India’s Tarun Kona and Ashwini Ponnappa came from the back to script a 21-14, 14-21, 21-11 win over Puangpuapech Nipitphon and Nessara Somsri of Thailand. Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan also made it to the quarters beating countrymates Akshay Dewalkar and Pradnya Gadre 21-17, 21-14.
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