International Challenge Badminton at Guwahati

Indians dominate opening day; smooth sailing for Chetan, Saina:

Guwahati, Dec 3: Indian shuttlers exhibited their supremacy on the opening day of the India International Challenge Badminton Tournament which got under way at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium here on Monday.

Top seeds Chetan Anand and Saina Nehwal of India romped into the next rounds along with other seeded Indians.

Chetan moved into the third round beating Evert Sukamta 21-11, 21-16.

Soumya Pandhye and Misa Ruth of India moved into the semi-finals of women’s doubles after beating Akram Aisha and Basheer Palwasha of Pakistan 21-11, 21-11.

Earlier in the afternoon, Asom Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi inaugurated the mega event.

In his inaugural speech, Gogoi welcomed all the players and officials to Asom and reiterated state government’s stand to promote sports in this part of the country.

Indian Olympic Association vice-president and APCC president Bhubaneshwar Kalita and other officials of Assam Badminton Association were also present on the occasion.

The Chief Minister also felicitated former All England Badminton Champion Pullela Gopichand, Asom shuttlers Oli Deka, Krishna Dekaraja and Arjuna Awardee Sandeep Singh Dhillon.

After the ITF World Junior Ranking Tennis meet, the sports buffs of Guwahati enjoyed the shuttling action of top players of 10 countries under a single roof.

Around 100 players of Asia and Europe are participating in the tournament.

Results of Day One:
Men’s Singles 1st round: Jaishnu Sanyal (Ind) beat Omar Zeeshan (Pak) 21-19, 21-18; Abinshyam Gupta (Ind) beat Paneru Rajendra 21-4, 24-5; V Amar (Ind) beat Azam Roizwam (Pak) 21-16/15-21/21-13; Md Attique (Pak) beat Jibi Verghese (Ind) 21-19, 21-15; Reiw Iam Jovie (Indo) beat Ahsum Habib (Bangla) 21-13, 21-13; Saputra Nandang Arif (Indo) beat Ajit Vijaytilak 21-14, 16-21, 21-18; Saif Uddin (Bangla) beat Sachin Ratti (Ind); Nikhilesh Sharma beat Bishal Pradhan (Nep) 21-16, 22-20; Supra Sagar beat Smola Chemens (Austria) 21-4, 21-4.

Men’s Singles 2nd round: Chetan Anand (Ind) beat Evert Sukamta 21-11, 21-16; Jashnu Sanyal (Ind) beat Abdul Hannan (Bangla) 21-12, 21-14.

Women’s Singles 1st round : Aparna Balan (Ind) beat Aktar Sabha (Bangladesh); Parul Rawat beat Pooja Shrestha (Nepal) 21-6, 21-6; Jawala Gutta (Ind) beat Susmita Gurung (Nepal) 21-9, 21-10; Tholini Jayasinghe (Sri Lanka) beat Abantika Deka (Ind) 21-13, 21-16; Bibari Basumatary (Ind) beat Sara Mohmud (Pak) 21-14, 21-14; Shyali Gokhale (Ind) Uzma Butt (Pak) 21-6, Konika Adhikary (Ban) .

Women’s Doubles 1st round: Aparna Balan & P Jyotsna (Ind) beat Konica Adhikary & Aktar Shabia (Bangla); (Q/F) Soumya Padhye & Misa Ruth (Ind) beat Akram Aisha & Basheer Palwash (Pak) 21-11, 21-11.

Source: The Sentinel