Gurusaidutt advances

Gurusaidutt advances: Pawar ousts Mithun; Paul shocks Chetan Anand

 Petroleum Sports Promotion Board’s (PSPB) R M V Gurusaidutt enjoyed an easy outing in the second round of the All India Senior Ranking badminton tournament, defeating Telengana’s Siril Varma to move into the last-16 here on Thursday.

The Indian international took just over 30 minutes to get the better of Siril, 21-10, 21-12.
In other encounters, Air India’s Anand Pawar defeated local boy Mithun M 21-17, 21-10 to book his place in the pre-quarterfinals, seasoned campaigner Chetan Anand, who represents PSPB, saw his journey cut short by 19-year-old qualifier from Kerala Aswin Paul. Anand lost the second round tie 21-14, 22-24, 19-21.

Aswin will take on the promising Karnataka boy Abhishek Yeligar who beat Venket Gaurav Prasad of Chhattisgarh 21-12, 21-3.

Gurusaidutt started brightly to go up 11-5 at break as he kept Siril at bay with his fluent court movements and clever net play.

Siril, who trains with Gurusaidutt at the Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad, had no answers to his opponent’s deep smashes and cheeky drop shots, conceding the first game 10-21.

The second game, which began in a similar fashion, saw Gurusaidutt race into a 11-6 lead before a momentary lapse in concentration from the 25-year-old allowed Siril to come back into the tie. The 16-year-old drew level at 11-11 raising hopes of pushing the issue into a deciding third game.

But the script did not pan out the youngster’s way as the 2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medalist regained his composure to finish the proceedings 21-12.

“The game was not as easy as I thought it would be. He (Siril) gave his best and I had to be on my toes,” said Gurusaidutt. “I was under pressure when he (Siril) drew level in the second game. But I knew it was just a matter of one point and I could come back into the tie,” he added.

The world number 37 will now take on Karnataka’s Daniel Farid who beat Aneeth Kumar of Andhra Pradesh 22-20, 21-10.

In the women’s draw, top seed Sayali Gokhale of Air India entered the last-16 after her opponent Sneha Santhilal of Kerala threw in the towel in half-way into the opening game.

Results (Round of 32): Men singles: Subhankar Dey (Mah) bt Harshit Aggarwal (Ktk) 23-21, 21-11; Aditya Joshi (AI) bt Amit Sharma (Dli) 21-17, 21-6 Gurusaidutt RMV (PSPB) bt Siril Varma (TS) 21-10, 21-12; Daniel Farid (Ktk) bt Aneeth Kumar (AP) 22-20, 21-10; Shreyansh Jaiswal (Chg) bt Vikas Harsha (AP) 11-4 rtd; Anand Pawar (AI) bt Mithun M (Ktk) 21-17, 21-10; Abhishek Yeligar (Ktk) bt Venket Gaurav Prasad(Chg) 21-12, 21-13; Aswin Paul (Ker) bt Chetan Anand (PSPB) 14-21, 24-22, 21-19; Kartik Jindal (Har) bt Ajay Kumar K (AP) 16-21, 21-17, 21-16; Rohit Yadav (AAI) bt Hemanth M G (Ktk) 21-17, 21-13; Talar Laa (ANP)bt Dhruv Kumar (Dli) 21-15, 21-19; Sai Praneeth (PSPB) bt Sachin Rawat (Dli)  21-10, 21-12; Rahul Yadav (TS) bt Oscar Bansal (Chg) 22-24, 21-19, 21-7; Ketan Chahal (Har) bt Siddharath Thakur (Mah) 21-13, 21-14; Chirag Sen (AI) bt Kiran Kumar (Ktk) 21-14, 21-17; Abhimanyu Singh (MP) bt Ashish Sharma (Dli) 21-16, 21-14.

Women singles: Sayali Gokhale (AI) bt Sneha Santhilal (Ker) 21-8 rtd; Tanishq M (AP) bt Riya Pawar (Mah) 21-7, 21-8; Shikha Gautam (Ktk) bt Bhavya Rishi (Dli) 21-14, 21-15; Kuhoo Garg (Utr) bt Pranjal Prabhu (Goa) 21-15, 21-12; Reshma Karthik (AI)bt Kareena Madan (Mah) 21-11, 21-13; Poornima (AP) bt Treesa Wilson (Ker) 21-11, 21-10; Sri Krishna Priya (TS) bt Vaidehi Choudhari (Mah) 18-21, 21-19, 21-18; Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka (TS) bt Prabhjyot Kour (J&K) 21-4, 21-5; Karishma Wadkar (Mah) bt Sai Uttejitha Rao (AP) 21-11, 15-21, 21-19; Neha Pandit (Mah) bt Anura Prabhudesai (Goa) 21-17, 24-22; Vrushali G (TS) bt Keerthana P (TN) 21-4, 21-11; Saili Rane (AI) bt Yamini Sharma (Dli) 21-6, 21-12; Kanika Kanwal (Dli) bt Gayatri Gopichand Pullela (TS) 21-16, 17-21, 21-16; Shriyanshi Pardeshi (AI) bt Vaishnavi K (TS) 21-9, 21-8; Mahima Aggarwal (Ktk) bt Anuriya Das (WB) 21-15, 20-22, 21-14; Tanvi Lad (PSPB) bt Harika V (AI) 21-8 rtd.