Chetan, Vijay liven day one

PUNE, Jan 4: It was an ominous start to the Vth Late V.V. Natu all-India badminton meet. The withdrawal of third seeded Sachin Ratti Rai...

PUNE, Jan 4: It was an ominous start to the Vth Late V.V. Natu all-India badminton meet. The withdrawal of third seeded Sachin Ratti Railways alongwith the early exits of two seeded players left just the top seed in the fray after the completion of the pre-quarter final rounds today.

At the WIE Sports Complex today, the day began with Sachin failing to turn up at the venue for reasons best known to himself, leaving the organisers high and dry after the player confirmed his entry.

With the first round matches going on expected lines the evening session, which featured the round of 16 matches, was in for some fireworks. First, Chetan Anand of Air India kept his head-to-head record against fourth seeded Mangrish Palekar intact to cause an upset. Chetan, runners-up in the Junior National8217;s at Chennai, took just 35 minutes to push his seeded opponent out 15-8, 15-8.

However, if the 18-year-old Anand delighted the crowd, Vijay Lancy who caused the next upset took the day8217;s honours.

Vijay, a former international, put aside the challenge of No. 2 Shrikant Bakshi Railways in what could be termed as a comeback8217; win. Vijay, playing after a five month lay-off owing to an operation on his heel, won a marathon of a tie lasting an hour and 10 minutes and lasting three games 15-17, 15-10, 15-13.

Admitting that the game tired him, Vijay informed that he had, no problem8217; with the injury. 8220;I knew that I had to play well to sustain my fitter opponent, and it worked,8221; Vijay added. Interestingly, the last match Vijay played was against Shrikant at the CCI, Mumbai in June, during the Commonwealth Games trials, where he had to concede owing to his heel.

The lone seed to survive was top-seed Abhinn Shyam Gupta A-I who joins Chetan and Vijay in the quarter-finals.

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Results
Men8217;s Singles; Pre Q/F: 1-Abhinn Shyam Gupta A-I b Pravin Gehlawani Dli; Amrish Shinde Rly b Ashish Chaddha Dli 15-4, 15-13; Chetan Anand A-I b 4-Mangrish Palekar Rly 15-8, 15-8; B Kiran Kumar A-I b Jaison Xavier Ker 15-6, 15-9; J.B.S Vidyadhar Rly b Devinder Dhillon Dli 17-14, 12-15, 15-1; Nimesh Goyal Mah b Jose George Ker 15-5, 15-11; Parag Modi A-I b D Vijay Khanna AP 15-9, 15-10; Vijay Lancy Mah b 2-Shrikant Bakshi Rly 15-17, 15-10, 15-13.

Men8217;s Singles; I Round: 1-Abhinn Shyam Gupta A-I b Rutuparna Kulkarni Mah 15-4, 15-7; Pravin Ghelavat Del A Prithvi AP 7-15, 15-7, 15-13; Amrish Shinde Mah b Alok Singh Mah 12-15, 15-6, 15-7; Ashish Chadda Del b P.S.B Nagendra Ktk 15-8, 15-7; 4-Mangrish Palekar b Tarun Chauhan Del 15-4, 15-2; Chetan Anand A-I b Abhisek Bakshi Ktk 15-10, 11-15, 15-9; Jaison Xavier Ker b S.S Kannan TN 13-15, 15-7, 15-10; B Kiran Kumar A-I b Vikrant Patwardhan Mah 15-10, 15-5; J.B.S Vidhyadhar Rly b Mayur Ghatnekar Rly 17-14, 15-5; Jose George Ker W/o 3-Sachin Ratti Rly; D Vijay Khanna AP b Sanket Shetty Rly 17-15, 15-1; Parag Modi A-I b Vivek GAutam Mah 15-7, 15-7; Vijay Lancy Mah b Sushant Niddodhi AP 15-7, 15-11; 2-Shrikant Bakshi Rly b Sushant Niddodhi A-I 15-7, 15-11.

Men8217;s Doubles: B Chetan Anand/Mitesh Hazarnis A-I b Chiranjeet Singh/P.L Narayan AP W/o; Mayur Tawade/Hemant Hardikar Mah b Guvardhan Reddy/Venkesh Rao AP W/o.

Women8217;s Singles; I Round: Ketaki Thakar A-I b Krupa Telang Mah 11-5, 11-9.

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Women8217;s Doubles; I Round: Ketaki Thakar/ D Shewta A-I b Meenakshi Waugh/Asawari Patwardhan Mah W/o; Trupti Murgunde/Meena Patwardhan Mah b Tanuja Begam/B Tara Ker W/o.