RMV Gurusaidutt and Anand Pawar will face-off for a place in the final of the All India Senior Ranking Badminton Tournament after registering comfortable wins over Aditya Joshi and Abhishek Yeligar in the quarterfinals here on Friday.
Petroleum Sports Promotion Board’s Gurusaidutt beat Air India’s Joshi 21-12, 21-4, while Anand, representing Air India, got the better of Karnataka lad Yeligar 21-9, 21-17.
Top two seeds Sayali Gokhale and Tanvi Lad crashed out on a day of upsets in the women’s draw. Karnataka’s Shikha Gautam defeated top seed Sayali 21-18, 8-21, 21-19 while Shriyanshi Pardeshi knocked out the second-seeded Tanvi 21-12, 21-19.
Shikha will play Reshma Karthik in the semifinals. Reshma beat Telengana’s Sri Krishna Priya 22-20, 21-15 in the quarters. Shriyanshi will face a formidable opponent in fifth seed Neha Pandit who beat Air India’s Saili Rane 20-22, 21-18, 21-15 in her last eight tie.
Gurusaidutt, who beat Karnataka’s Daniel Farid 21-13, 21-12 earlier, wasted no time in making his intentions clear against Joshi. The tie, which lasted for 20 minutes, saw the world number 43 mix his game well with swift court movements and quality shot selection as he raced ahead with a 11-7 lead at the break. Joshi also lapsed into errors, allowing Gurusaidutt to close the opening game 21-12.
Gurusaidutt then raced to a commanding 9-1 lead in the second game and there was no coming back for Joshi.
In another quality tie, 16-year-old Shikha held her nerves to beat Sayali. Shikha, who won the closely fought opening game 21-18, lost her momentum in the second as Sayali rode on her supreme court play to pocket the second game 21-8.
In a see-saw battle, the players entertained the crowd with their delightful strokes and cheeky net play before Shikha edged past her opponent 21-19 to book a place in the last four.
Results: Men singles: Quarterfinals: Gurusaidutt RMV (PSPB) bt Aditya Joshi (AI) 21-12, 21-4; Anand Pawar (AI) bt Abhishek Yeligar (Ktk) 21-9, 21-17; Sai Praneeth B (PSPB) bt Rohit Yadav (AAI) 21-16, 19-21, 21-14; Ketan Chahal (Har) bt Chirag Sen (AI) 21-9, 10-21, 21-18.
Round of 16: Aditya Joshi (AI) bt Subhankar Dey (Mah) 20-22, 21-18, 21-13; Gurusaidutt RMV (PSPB) bt Daniel Farid (Ktk) 21-13, 21-12; Anand Pawar (AI) bt Shreyansh Jaiswal (CG) 21-12, 9-21, 21-12; Abhishek Yeligar (Ktk) bt Aswin Paul (Ker) 21-8, 21-12; Rohit Yadav (AAI) bt Kartik Jindal (Har) 21-15, 21-12; Sai Praneeth B (PSPB) bt Talar Laa (ANP) 21-13, 21-13; Ketan Chahal (Har) bt Rahul Yadav C (TS) 18-21, 21-17, 21-18; Chirag Sen (AI) bt Abhimanyu Singh (MP) 21-16, 21-15.
Women singles: Quarterfinals: Shikha Gautam (Ktk) bt Sayali Gokhale (AI) 21-18, 8-21, 21-19; Reshma Karthik (AI) bt Sri Krishna Priya K (TS) 22-20, 21-15; Neha Pandit (Mah) bt Saili Rane (AI) 20-22, 21-18, 21-15; Shriyanshi Pardeshi (AI) bt Tanvi Lad (PSPB) 21-12, 21-19.
Round of 16: Sayali Gokhale (AI) bt Tanishq M (AP) 21-15, 21-10; Shikha Gautam (Ktk) bt Kuhoo Garg (UP) 21-11, 21-17; Reshma Karthik (AI) bt Poornima Ch (AP) 21-17, 21-13; Sri Krishna Priya K (TS) bt Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka (TS) 16-21, 21-12, 21-12; Neha Pandit (Mah) bt Karishma Wadkar (Mah) 21-16, 21-11; Saili Rane (AI) bt Vrushali G (TS) 11-21, 21-18, 21-17; Shriyanshi Pardeshi (AI) bt Kanika Kanwal (Dli) 13-21, 21-8, 21-13; Tanvi Lad (PSPB) bt Mahima Aggarwal (Ktk) 21-14, 21-18.
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