Kanetkar storms into quarter-finals

HYDERABAD, June 8: Top seed Nikhil Kanetkar Maharashtra, after struggling to get into his groove in the initial stages, posted a 15-12, 15...

HYDERABAD, June 8: Top seed Nikhil Kanetkar Maharashtra, after struggling to get into his groove in the initial stages, posted a 15-12, 15-8 win over Mangrish Palekar and move into the quarter-finals in the men8217;s singles event of Indian Grand Prix Badminton Tournament here on Monday.

The other seeded players who made the last eight are Sachin Rati Railways and Ajit Wijetilek Karnataka.

Mangrish Palekar, after surging to a 4-0 lead, failed to maintain his tempo and could not match the aggressive play of Kanetkar and lost the first game at 12-15. In the second, Kanetkar faced little resistance from his opponent and won it at 12-8 to win the match.

Rathi, after some initial setbacks, never allowed Anuj Gupta to settle down and coasted to a comfortable 15-12, 15-8 win.

Wijetilek dominated the proceedings right from the word go to post an impressive 15-4, 15-8 win over Chetan Anand Air-India.

In the women8217;s singles event, two AP players bowed out of the tournament. Promising Shruti Kuriean lostin straight games to Archana Deodhar Maharashtra while D Nivedita was routed by Asawari Patwardhan Maharashtra.

Second seeded Srikant Bakshi of Indian Railways overcame a fighting Mayur Ghatnekar of Maharashtra 18-17, 13-18, 15-8 and moved into the pre-quarter finals. Third seeded Abhinn Shyam Gupta of Air-India conceded only seven points to beat Roy Mathew of Kerala at 15-5, 15-2.

RESULTS

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Men8217;s singles pre-quarterfinals: Nikhil Kanetkar Mah bt Mangrish Palekar Rly 15-12, 15-8; Sachin Rathi Rly bt Anuj Gupta Rly 15-12, 15-8; Ajit Wijetilak Kar bt Chetan Anand Air-India 15-4, 15-8.

Women8217;s singles 1st round: Archana Deodhar Mah bt Shruti Kurian AP 11-2, 11-8; Asawari Patwardhan Mah bt D Nivedita AP 11-1, 11-2; Manju T Abraham Kar bt Nirupa Bhide MP 11-4, 11-0.

Men8217;s singles 1st round: Nikhil Kanitkar Mah bt Ashish Chadda Del 15-6, 15-4; Mangrish Palekar Rly bt B Nagarajk AP 15-12, 15-13; Parag Modi AI bt Shiv Kumar TN 15-7,15-13; Sachin Ratti Rly bt JBS Vidyadhar ap 15-7, 17-14; Vijay Kanna AP bt Joy T Anthony Ker 15-12, 17-14; Anuj Gupta Guj bt PL Narayana AP 15-2, 15-4; Chetan Anand AI bt Prem Kumar Singh AP 15-9, 15-6; Ajit Wijetilek Kar bt M Subramanyan Mah 15-5, 15-3; Devender Dhillon Del bt Sree Shail AP 15-2, 15-8.