Three out of top four seeds crash out in men's singles

LATUR: The penultimate day of the Maharashtra State Senior Badminton Championship turned out to be a nightmare for the seeds.
Out of top four seeds in the men's singles, three crashed out in the quarterfinals itself thus making it a day of upsets at the Dayanand College Indoor Stadium here on Saturday.
Except for the top seed Subhankar Dey of Pune, others struggled against the unseeded players.
Second seed Sarang Lakhanee, who had reached the final at Mumbai in the state selection tournament last month, was surprised by Thane youngster Kabir Kanzarkar.
In a battle between two left-handers, Kanzarkar downed Lakhanee in straight games. After losing the first game easily, Lakhanee bounced back gallantly in the second game but just could not finish it and lost 16-21, 20-22.
"I could not recover fully from fever. Had I was completely fit, I could have beaten him," said Lakhanee after the match.
Third seed Nigel D'Sa and fourth seed Sushrut Karmarkar too were upset by unfancied players. While D'Sa stunned by Pune youngster Abhishek Kulkarni, Karmarkar was shocked by Mumbai Suburban player Anmol Behrani in a three-game thriller.
The women's singles too witnessed an upset. Third seed Shruti Mundada of Pune was shocked by Nagpur teenager Vaishnavi Bhale. Seventeen-year-old Bhale started shakily but as the match progressed, she grew in confidence and frustrated Pune southpaw.
However, top seed Neha Pandit, second seed Riya Pillai and fourth seed Mudra Dhainje sailed smoothly to the last four.
Bhale will take on Pillai for a spot in the final on Sunday, while Pandit will square off against her Pune counterpart Dhainje.
Another Nagpur girl Bhakti Dahasahasra also entered the semifinals in the women's doubles with her Mumbai Suburban partner Himanshi Pandey. The second seeded pair of Bhakti and Himanshi thumped Farah Maloobhai and Aishwarya Narayanmurthy in straight games.
However, in the men's section Nagpur's challenge ended with the loss of Lakhanee, Jayendra Dhole and Ajay Dayal.
The experienced pair of Dhole and Dayal fought hard against top seeds Abhidnya Sawant and Prasad Shetty but lack of match fitness undid their efforts in the men's doubles quarters.
All the semifinals will be played on Sunday morning, while the finals will begin at 3 pm.
Results (All Quarterfinals)
Women's singles: 1-Neha Pandit bt Vrushali Malthankar 21-6, 21-12; 4-Mudra Dhainje bt Vallari Bukane 21-9, 21-11; Vaishnavi Bhale bt 3-Shruti Mundada 19-21, 21-16, 21-17; 2-Riya Pillai bt Sampada Sahasrabudhe 22-20, 21-17.
Men's singles: 1-Subhankar Dey bt Mandeep Singh 21-17, 21-8; Anmoal Behrani bt 4-Sushrut Karmarkar 21-14, 14-21, 21-19; Abhishek Sadanand Kulkarni bt 3-Nigel D'Sa 23-21, 21-17; Kabir Kanzarkar bt 2-Sarang Lakhanee 21-16, 22-20.
Mixed doubles: 1-Nishad Dravid-Manasi Gadgil bt Akshay Raut-Vallari Bukane 21-14, 21-12; Varun Khanwalkar-Shruti Mundada bt Prasad Shetty-Farah Moloobhai 21-10, 21-11; Sameer Bhagwat-Revati Devasthale bt Amey Joshi-Sampada Sahasrabudhe 21-18, 16-21, 21-9; 2-Abhishek Sanjay Kulkarni-Riya Pillai bt Manish Kumar-Kiran Shete 21-9, 21-9.
Women's doubles: 1-Manasi Gadgil-Mudra Dhainje w/o Monica Rasekar-Mrunali Thegane; 2-Bhakti Dahasahasra-Himanshi Pandey bt Farah Maloobhai-Aishwarya Narayanmurthy 21-11, 21-17; Shruti Mundada-Riya Pillai bt Vaishnavi Bhale-Vallari Bukane 21-18, 21-7; Riya Pawar-Rucha Kadam bt Maitreyee Bakshi-Nakshatra Hanchate 22-20, 21-11.
Men's doubles: 1-Abhidnya Sawant-Prasad Shetty bt Ajay Dayal-Jayendra Dhole 21-10, 21-17; 3-Prashant Bahatre-Abhishek Sanjay Kulkarni bt Akshay Manwadkar-Chetan Mane 21-16, 21-11; Subhankar Dey-Bisal Das bt 2-Nishad Dravid-Sudhanshu Medshikar 18-21, 21-17, 21-16; Kabir Kanzarkar-Akshay Raut bt Sameer Bhagwat-Varun Khanwalkar 22-20, 21-17.