Anuj stunned by part-timer

MUMBAI, JUNE 2: Sixth seed Anuj Gupta was the only casualty of the first day of the Amit Rathi Memorial Grand Prix badminton tournament at t...

MUMBAI, JUNE 2: Sixth seed Anuj Gupta was the only casualty of the first day of the Amit Rathi Memorial Grand Prix badminton tournament at the Cricket Club of India courts today.

Gupta was a victim of the unassuming part-time singles player Roy Mathew of Railways 10-15, 15-8, 15-4 in the first round of the Rs 4 lakh tournament organised by the Badminton Lovers Trust.

The 26-year-old Mathew, who rarely plays singles and concentrates more on doubles, carried his form into the first game of the second round against No 15 Parag Modi. But then fatigue got better of him and he wilted to a 5-15, 15-1, 15-5 loss.

Top seeds P Gopi Chand and Aparna Popat made their way to the third round with easy wins. Gopi Chand sailed through with a 15-9, 15-7 win over Chetan Anand in the second round and meets Ajit Wijetilek in the quarter-finals.

Aparna taught 16-year-old Neha Gangoli, playing her first senior national-level tournament, a badminton lesson with a 11-1, 11-3 win in 18 minutes.

The only qualifier to enterthe second round, JBS Vidyadhar, defeated No 13 Devinder Dhillon but succumbed to third seed Nikhil Kanetkar 9-15, 13-15 in the pre-quarterfinals.

Number four seed Srikant Bakshi was leading 15-13, 8-2 in the second round against Vijay Lancy when the latter conceded. Lancy aggravated an injury he had suffered during the National Championships in Hyderabad when he heard his right heel crack with a 8220;distinct snap8221;.

Results

Men8217;s singles second round

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P Gopi Chand AP bt Chetan Anand AP 15-9, 15-7; Parag Modi A-I bt Roy Mathew Rly 15-5, 1-15, 15-5; Sushant Saxena UP bt Mangrish Palekar 4-15, 15-11, 15-4; Ajit Wijetilek Kar bt Jaison Xavier Ker 15-9, 6-15, 15-10; Sachin Ratti Rly bt Kiran Kumar A-I 15-2, 15-2; Srikant Bakshi Rly bt Vijay Lancy Mah 15-13, 8-2 conceded; Nikhil Kanetkar Mah bt JBS Vidyadhar 15-9, 15-13; Abhinn Shyam Gupta A-I bt Amrish Shinde Mah 8-15, 15-6, 15-8.

First round

P Gopi Chand AP bt Nitesh Hazarnis A-I 15-4, 15-6; JaisonXavier Ker bt Sashidhar AP 6-15, 15-6, 15-5; Chetan Anand AP bt Joy T Anthony Ker 15-8, 9-15, 15-5; Srikant Bakshi Rly bt Tarun Chauhan Del 15-6, 15-5; Ajit Wijetilak Kar bt Vijay Kanna AP 18-3, 12-15, 15-4; Vijay Lancy Mah bt Behzaad Devadhwala Mah 15-5, 15-0; Parag Modi A-I bt Sri Shail 15-9, 15-4; Kiran Kumar A-I bt Ashish Chadha Del 15-7, 15-6; J B S Vidyadhar AP bt Davinder Dhillon Del 15-2, 15-3; Roy Mathews Rly bt Anuj Gupta Guj 10-15, 15-8, 15-4; Sachin Ratti Rly bt Mayur Ghatnekar Mah 1-15, 15-0, 15-6; Nikhil Kanetkar A-I bt Nimmish Goel Mah 15-4, 6-15, 15-2; Mangrish Palekar Rly bt Rohan Kapoor Pun 15-6, 15-3; Amrish Shinde Mah bt Sanket Shetty MAh 15-6, 15-1; Sushant Saxena UP bt Murali Subramanian Mah 15-7, 15-5; Abhinn Shyam Gupta A-I bt B Nagaraj AP 15-0, 9-9 conceded.

Men8217;s doubles

H Hardikar/M Tawade Mah bt K Daswani/S Makhija Mah 15-4, 15-2; Milind Ghate/S Mahesh Mah bt K Modi/S Thakker Mah 15-1, 15-5.

Women8217;ssingles second round

Aparna Popat Kar bt Neha Gangoli Mah 11-1, 11-3; Pooja Parekh Rly bt Manju T Abraham Kar 11-16, 11-6; Nirmala Kotnis A-I bt B R Meenakshi Rly 11-5, 11-6; PVV Lakshmi AP bt Shalaka Damle A-I 11-8, 11-1; Manjusha Kanwar Del bt Ketki Thakkar A-I 11-1, 11-8; Neelima Choudhary A-I bt Firoza Batliwala Mah 10-12, 11-3, 11-0; C H Deepthi A-I bt Archana Deodhar Mah 11-5, 12-10.

First Round

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Nirmala Kotnis A-I bt Meenakshi Wagh Mah 11-5, 6-11, 11-0; Asawari Patwardhan Mah bt Kirti Kadam Mah 11-0, 11-5; Shalaka Damle A-I bt Jhanvi Lakhani Mah 11-0, 11-2; Archana Deodhar Mah bt Divya Ramesh A-I 11-8, 12-10.