Chetan sails into round two

Aditi, Sanave-Rupesh crash out in first round; easy for Lin Dan, Peter Gade

Playing easily the most beautiful game of the day, India’s number one powered past little known Korean Ji Hoon Hong in straight games 21-8, 21-15 to book his place in the second round of the World Badminton Championship on Monday. Displaying his attacking instincts right from the word go, Chetan put his rival on the backfoot and maintained a tight leash throughout the first game.

Chetan literally toyed with Hong, cleverly drawing him to the net and then finishing the rally with brutal smashes, his jump shots standing out. Even before Hong could realise what was happening, the Hyderabadi -- cheered on in an assortment of Telugu, Hindi and English screams – had run away with the first game.

Hong regrouped in the second game and in fact led 14-12. However, after drawing level at 15-15, Chetan won the next five points in a row and though Hong snatched one point, he put a backhand long to concede the game and the match.

“This morning I was getting the feel of the shuttle during practice, but in the evening I was pretty ok with my rhythm,” said Chetan later. The 27-year-old attributed the win to his attacking style. “I started on a good note and an attacking mode. I think that’s what took him by surprise and with crowd support behind me, he couldn’t recover,” he pointed out.

Meanwhile, the seeded players waded through with great ease even as rest of the Indian challenge fizzled out, with Aditi Mutatkar and the men’s doubles pair crashing out in their opening-round matches. While Aditi was listless during her first-round 8-21, 12-21 loss to German’s Juliane Schenk, the men’s doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas blew hot and cold before going down to Japanese World number 14 pair of Kenichi Hayakawa and Kenta Kazuno 13-21, 21-22.

It was, however, smooth sailing for most of the fancied players.

Denmark’s world number three Peter Gade set the tone for the proceedings in the afternoon, ousting Valeriy Atrashchenkov of Ukraine 21-11, 21-16 in just under half an hour. The veteran Dane was obviously happy with his first-round outing. “I was in full control of the game and that’s a good thing. He (Atrashchenkov) was fast, but so long as I can make it, I am happy,” said Gade, adding: “Obviously I am looking for gold, but this time it’s a touch difficult. The good thing is that at 32, I can still contest with top Chinese players.” 

Another title contender, Chinese Lin Dan, demolished Misha Zilberman of Israel 21-9, 21-11 while world number one Lee Chong Wei overcame German’s Dieter Domke 21-14, 21-10.

It was tough for Aditi against world number 11 Schenk, but the Rupesh-Thomas pair, which had won a title in New Zealand just a few days before coming into the tournament, had a fair chance of making it to the next round, especially given their fightback in the second game after losing the first. Rupesh-Thomas at once stage led 19-15, but frittered away the advantage.

First round results
Prefix denotes ranking):
Men’s singles: 1-Lee Chong Wei (Mas) bt Dieter Domke (Ger) 21-14, 21-10; 3-Peter Hoeg Gade (Den) bt Valeriy Atrashchenkov (Ukr) 21-11, 21-16; 5-Lin Dan (Chn) bt Misha Zilberman (Isr) 21-9, 21-11; 6-Sony Dwi Kuncoro (Ina) bt Michael Lahnsteiner (Aut) 21-13, 21-9; Dicky Palyama (Ned) bt 11-Bao Chunlai (Chn) 21-18, 21-14; Chetan Anand (Ind) bt Ji Hong Hoon (Kor) 21-8, 21-16; Olga Fagbemi (Ngr) w/o Rajiv Ouseph (Eng); Stilian Makarski (Bul) bt Alistair Casey 18-21, 21-18, 21-13; Henri Hurskainen (Swe) bt Michal Matejka (Svk) 21-10, 21-16; Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (Tha) bt Tsuen Seng Lee (Mas) 21-7, 21-13. 

Women’s singles: 11-Juliane Schenk (Ger) bt Aditi Mutatkar (Ind) 21-8, 21-12; 14-Mew Choo Wong (Mas) bt Shannon Pohl (USA) 21-4, 21-6; 15-Maria Kristin Yulianti (Ina) bt Sophia Hansson (Swe) 21-6, 21-2; Ai Goto (Jpn) bt Chloe Magee (Irl) 21-13, 21-9; Susan Egelstaff (Sco) bt Anu Nieminen (Fin) 21-19, 22-20; Ella Diehl (Rus) bt Hadia Hosny (Egy) 21-8, 21-14; Lianne Tan (Bel) bt Elena Prus (Ukr) 21-18, 22-20; Linda Zechiri (Bul) bt Mingtian Fu (Sin) 21-15, 21-15.

Men’s doubles: 14-Kenichi Hayakawa/ Kenta Kazuno (Jpn) bt Rupesh Kumar/Sanave Thomas (Ind) 21-13, 23-21; Yonathan Suryatama Dasuki/Rian Sukmawan (Ina) bt Chai Biao/ Xiaolong Liu 25-23, 21-17; Gun Woo Cho/Yeon Seong Yoo (Kor) bt Mathew Fogarty/Dean Schoppe (USA) 21-5, 21-9; William Milroy/Toby Ng (Can) bt Wouter Claes/Frederic Mawet (Bel) 21-12, 16-21, 21-19; Michael Fuchs/ Ingo Kindervater (Ger) bt Baptiste Careme/Labar Ronan (Fra) 21-8, 21-16;  Hendri Kurniawan Saputra/ Hendra Wijaya (Sin) bt Ruud Bosch/ Koen Ridder (Ned) 21-15, 19-21, 21-16.

Women’s doubles: Petya Nedelcheva/Dimitria Popstoikova (Bul) bt Savitree Amitapai/Vacharaporn Munkit (Tha) 21-15, 8-21, 21-17; Anna Kobceva/Elena Prus (Ukr) w/o Sandra Marinello/Birgit Overzier (Ger); Tsz Ka Chan/Ying Suet Tse (Hkg) bt Danielle Barry/Donna Haliday (Nzl) 21-17, 22-20; Shizuka Matsuo/Mami Naito (Jpn) bt Yin Loo Lim/Marylen Poau Leng Ng (Mas) 21-8, 21-16.

Mixed doubles: 10-Hadikusumo Wiratama/Hoi Wah Chau (Hkg) bt Anthony Dumartheray/Sabrina Jaquet (Sui) 21-10, 21-8; Baptiste Careme/ Laura Choinet (Fra) bt Joe Wu/Danielle Barry (Nzl) 21-9, 21-19; Johannes Schoettler/Birgit Overzier (Ger) bt Henry Tam/Donna Haliday (Nzl) 21-15, 21-8; William Milroy/Fiona Mckee (Can) bt Iztok Utrosa/Maja Tvrdy 21-16, 21-14; Noriyasu Hirata/Shizuka Matsuo (Jap) bt Arun Vishnu/Aparna Balan (Ind) 21-14, 22-20; Valeriy Atrashchenkov/ Enala Prus (Ukr) bt Khe Wei Woon/ Mohd Razif Abdul Latif (Mas) 21-17, 9-21, 21-17; 10-Yohan Hadikusumo Wiratama/Hoi Wah Chau (Hkg) bt Anthony Dumartheray/Sabrina Jaquet (Sui) 21-10, 21-8; Alexandr Nikolaenko/Valeri Sorokina (Rus) bt Robert Mateusiak/Nadiezda Kostiuczyk (Pol) 21-11, 21-17; Devin Lahardi/Lita Nurlita (Ina) bt Wouter Claes/Nathalie Descamps (Bel) 18-21, 21-11, 21-14; Ruud Bosch/Paulien Van Dooremalen (Ned) w/o 13-Songphon Anugritayawon/Kunchala Voravichitchaikul; Misha Zilberman/Svetlana Zilberman (Isr) w/o 11-Anthony Clark/Donna Kellogg (Eng).