Jan 05: Tournament's top-seed Saina Nehwal keeps up her standing as she stormed into the semifinals after scoring a 21-8, 21-4 resounding win over Anita Ohlan in the quarterfinals of the All India Pramod Mahajan memorial badminton tournament played at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here on Friday.
Saina's teammate and second seeded Trupti Murgunde of Petroleum Sports Control Board suffered major upset of the day, as she was knocked out by unseeded Sayali Gokhale of Air India. Sayali pulled off a remarkable 11-21, 21-16, 21-16 victory, after being down by a set, over her opponent to make the place in semis.
Sayali rated her performance the best at this level, and she is looking forward to a good match in the semifinals against Railways Dhanya Nair, who overcame a stiff challenge from the left-handed N. Sikki Reddy. Dhanya defeated Reddy 21-14, 15-21 and 21-13.
Sayali exhibited some great character and grit on the court as she was suffering from acute lower back pain and also had precautionary treatment during the match, but she never lost the will and got her act together towards the end of both the second and third games to turn the tide in her favour.
Tournament favourite Saina Nehwal will fight it out against the third-seeded Aditi Mutatkar in the other semifinal. Both cruised home in the quarterfinals, conserving their best for the last.
In the men's section, fifth-seeded Arvind Bhatt proved too good for the fourth-seeded Anand Pawar in a gripping encounter. He will be meeting top-seed Anup Sridhar who slip into a higher gear at 15-15 in the first game to outplay the tenacious K. Tanishk of Andhra Pradesh.
Tanishk, with a solid smash and a sharp game, had it in him to stretch the top seed, but seemed to lack the confidence and energy.
Tanishk let Anup win 15 points after a good start; he rather surrendered as he claimed only three points. To his credit, Anup upped the ante of his game at a crucial juncture to seal the victory.
The second-seeded Kashyap will confront the challenge of seventh-seeded J. B. S. Vidyadhar who got the better off Ajay Jayaram in a three-game thriller against. The latter had shown the door to third-seed Chetan Anand in the second round.
RESULTS (QUARTERFINALS)
Men: Anup Sridhar bt K. Tanishk 21-17, 21-7; Arvind Bhatt bt Anand Pawar 21-14, 21-19; J. B. S. Vidyadhar bt Ajay Jayaram 11-21, 21-18, 21-11; P. Kashyap bt Sachin Ratti 21-17, 21-11.
Women: Saina Nehwal bt Anita Ohlan 21-8, 21-4; Aditi Mutatkar bt Abantika Deka 21-10, 21-11; Dhanya Nair bt N. Sikki Reddy 21-14, 15-21, 21-13; Sayali Gokhale bt Trupti Murgunde 11-21, 21-16, 21-16.
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