Saina, Srikanth survive scares

Sindhu dispatches qualifier Ekta Kalia in just 16 minutes

January 22, 2015 01:33 am | Updated 01:33 am IST - LUCKNOW:

GOOD START: Saina Nehwal cashed in on Yin Fun Lim's unforced errors at the net to move into the next round. Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

GOOD START: Saina Nehwal cashed in on Yin Fun Lim's unforced errors at the net to move into the next round. Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

Top seeds Saina Nehwal and K. Srikanth suffered a scare before pulling off hard-fought victories in their respective matches of the Syed Modi International India Masters badminton tournament here on Wednesday.

While defending champion Saina had to dig deep to survive 21-17, 21-12 against Malaysian Yin Fun Lim in the first round, Srikanth came back from a game down and saved a match point against Malaysian Kian Meng Tan to win 18-21, 21-13, 22-20 in just under an hour in the second round match.

Interestingly, Srikanth had defeated the same opponent at the same stage here in 2014 in straight games.

Fourteenth seed Ajay Jayaram retired after losing the first game 23-21 to Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin of Malaysia. “I had suffered an abdomen muscle strain during the Malaysia Masters, and was not sure of playing here. I still gave it a shot, but it got worse, so there was no point in continuing,” said Jayaram, who wasted four game points in the first game.

Srikanth started slowly and began attacking only after losing the opening game. He was more aggressive in the second, smashed more often and increased the pace of the game. The move paid off before Tan fought back in the third game.

A series of unforced errors allowed Tan to score five consecutive points to go from 15-19 to 20-19. But, Srikanth closed out with a powerful smash down the centre of the court into Tan’s body.

Other top men’s players, including P. Kashyap, R.M.V. Gurusaidutt and Dane Viktor Axelsen, all had an easy passage into the pre-quarterfinals.

Saina tested

Saina faced resistance from world No. 112 Lim. Her struggle was in contrast to the ease with which P.V. Sindhu dispatched qualifier Ekta Kalia 21-6, 21-12 in 16 minutes, the shortest match on the day. Sindhu hardly had to move across the court, scoring points by simply ensuring the shuttle crossed the net.

World champion and second seed Carolina Marin of Spain knocked out Ruthvika Shivani 21-9, 21-10 to make it to the pre-quarterfinals. Main results (prefix denotes seeding, Indians unless stated):

Second round: Men’s singles: Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin (Mas) bt 14-Ajay Jayaram 23-21 retd; 5-Wei Feng Chong (Mas) bt Siddharth Thakur 21-13, 21-12; 4-H.S. Prannoy bt Srujan Nandaluri 21-15, 21-13; 8-R.M.V. Gurusaidutt bt Daren Liew (Mas) 21-14, 21-15; 3-P. Kashyap bt Ankit Chhikara 21-7, 21-14; 1-K. Srikanth bt Kian Meng Tan (Mas) 18-21, 21-13, 22-20; 11-Misha Zilberman (Isr) bt Vipul Saini 21-10, 21-15; 6-B. Sai Praneeth bt Gaurav Venkat 21-14, 21-10; 12-Zulfadli Zulkiffli (Mas) bt Saurav Kapoor 21-17, 21-10; 2-Viktor Axelsen (Den) bt Neeraj Vashist 21-2, 21-13.

First round: Doubles: 1-Mathias Boe & Carsten Mogensen (Den) bt Vikrant Chawat & Rajat Rathore 21-7, 21-12; 6-Pranav Chopra & Akshay Dewalkar bt Bikash Shrestha & Ratnajit Tamang (Nep) 21-11, 21-9; K. Nandagopal & Arjun Kumar Reddy Malgari bt Zulfaiz Bin Zulkiffli & Zulhelmi Zulkiffli (Mas) 12-21, 21-18, 21-16; Tarun Kona & Santosh Ravuri bt Utkarsh Arora & Tanvir Gill 21-14, 21-16; 3-Danny Bawa Chrisnanta & Chayut Triyachart (Sin) bt Shlok Ramchandran & Sanyam Shukla 21-17, 19-21, 21-18; 4-Vladimir Ivanov & Ivan Sozonov (Rus) bt Khim Wah Lim & Yao Han Ow (Mas) 21-18, 21-13; 5-Manu Attri & B. Sumeeth Reddy bt V. Shem Goh & Wee Kiong Tan (Mas) 21-17, 21-19; 2-Mads Conrad-Petersen & Mads Pieler Kolding (Den) bt Andrew Ellis & Peter Mills (Eng) 21-11, 21-19. Women’s singles: Arundhati Pantawane bt Jana Ciznarova (Svk) 21-10, 21-12; 4-Nichaon Jindapon (Tha) bt Yamini Sharma 21-4, 9-0 retd; 6-Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (Tha) bt Jeanine Cicognini (Ita) 21-11, 21-8; 2-Carolina Marin (Esp) bt Ruthvika Shivani 21-9, 21-10; Tanvi Lad bt Anna Astrakhantseva (Rus) 21-9, 21-1; 8-P.C. Thulasi bt Rucha Nikam 21-5, 21-8; 3-P.V. Sindhu bt Ekta Kalia 21-6, 21-12; 1-Saina Nehwal bt Yin Fun Lim (Mas) 21-17, 21-12; 5-Beatriz Corrales (Esp) bt Jyoti Nashier 21-9, 21-10. Doubles: Sanyogita Ghorpade & Arathi Sara Sunil bt Sanskriti Chhabra & Ekta Kalia 21-13, 21-16; Yu Yan Vanessa Neo & Shinta Mulia Sari (Sin) bt Dhanya Nair & Mohita Sahdev 21-16, 21-15; Yin Loo Lim & Meng Yean Lee (Mas) bt Kristi Das & Yamini Sharma w/o; D. Sudha Kalyani & Riya Mukherjee bt Jagriti Nashier & Jyoti Nashier 21-15, 23-21; Jamuna Rani Rachapalli & Leela Lakshmi Rachapalli bt Juhi Dewangan & Smriti Nagarkoti 21-18, 19-21, 21-10. Mixed doubles: 8-Wong Fai Yin & Mei Kuan Chow (Mas) bt Jayan James & Kristi Das w/o; 1-Riky Widianto & Puspita Richi Dili (Ina) bt Tarun Kona & N. Sikki Reddy 21-18, 21-14; 4-Peng Soon Chan & Pei Jing Lai (Mas) bt Shlok Ramchandran & J. Meghana 21-12, 21-7; Vladimir Ivanov (Rus) & Ashwini Ponnappa bt Harinder Malik & Teenu Dahiya 21-4 retd; 2-Danny Bawa Chrisnanta & Yu Yan Vanessa Neo (Sin) bt Gaurav Venkat & Juhi Dewangan 21-9, 21-13; 3-Evgenij Dremin & Evgenia Dimova (Rus) bt Prem Singh Chouhan & Saruni Sharma 21-11, 21-10; 7-Aik Quan Tan & Meng Yean Lee (Mas) bt Varun Sharma & Jyoti Nashier 21-6, 21-8.

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