International Challenge Badminton at Guwahati

Saina, Chetan in final; doubles crown for Jwala:

Guwahati, Dec 4: Top seeds Chetan Anand and Saina Nehwal, both of India, scored convincing wins to reach the finals of the men’s and women’s singles sections respectively in the India International Challenge Badminton Championship at Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium at Amingaon here on Tuesday.

The first final of the 15,000-dollar tournament on Tuesday saw the top-seeded pair of Jwala Gutta and Shruti Kurian scripting a facile 21-11, 21-8 victory over another Indian pair of Aparna Balan and P Jyotshna in the women’s doubles final.

Mizo girl and wife of Chetan, Jwala, later added another title to her kitty by winning the mixed doubles final pairing with V Diju of India. They defeated second seeded Indian pair of Rupesh Kumar and Aparna Balan 21-14, 21-16.

Earlier, top-seeded Chetan Anand stopped giant-killer Utsav Mishra 21-7, 21-18 in the first semi-final to set up the title clash with Wei Feng Chong of Malayasia. The third-seeded Malaysian earned a hard-fought 12-21, 21-18, 21-19 marathon victory over the fifth seeded P Kashyap of India in the other semi-final.

Chetan, who earlier defeated another India international Abhin Shyam Gupta 21-16, 21-12 in the quarter-final, took just 25 minutes to overcome the challenge from Utsav who caused a major upset yesterday by getting the better of the sixth seed Dinuka Karunaratne of Sri Lanka. Utsav could hardly match the superb court coverage and skills of his celebrated opponent.

In the first semi-final in women’s section, fourth seeded Aditi Mutatkar of India gave some initial hiccups to Saina Nehwal in the first game but the experienced Hyderabadi girl, who won the Philippines Open last year to become the first Indian woman to win a four-star tournament, took control gradually to wrap up the match 21-18, 21-15.

In the other semi-final, second seeded Kanako Yonekura of Japan gave a superb display of shuttle-play in typical oriental style to prevail over third seeded Trupti Murugunde of India 21-17, 21-17 to set up the final with Saina Nehwal.

The final in the men’s doubles category will be played between the Malaysian pair of Peng Soon Chan and Hun Pin Chang and the Indian pair of T Dinesh and Jayan James.

All the finals will be played from 3 pm onwards on Tuesday.

Source: The Assam Tribune

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