Sparring time for big three

Left-handed Nikhil Kanetkar was tested in the first game by southpaw Joy T Antony (Kerala) before winning 15-11, 15-4 in 45 minutes. “It was good that I had only one game each to play on the last two days,” said Kanetkar. “This gives me time to get into the bigger tests when I have to play two matches tomorrow.”

Abhinn, PSCB’s new recruit playing under the BAI tag, won a tight match against Srikant Bakshi (Railways) 15-12, 15-10.

For the home supporters, Jaison Xavier’s loss to Vijay Lancy from a comfortable position was disappointing. Xavier squadered four match-pointsto lose the most exciting match of the day. Lancy’s height and better reach helped him at crucial stages as a tiring Xavier lost 15-8, 14-15, 2-15 in one hour and two minutes.

Results Men singles (PQF):P Gopi Chand (PSCB) bt Mangrish Palekar (Mah) 15-12 15-5; Sachin Ratti (Rly) bt Sanave Thomas (Ker) 15-7 15-6; Siddharth Jain (PSCB) bt Thomas Kurien (Ker) 17-15 15-7; Chetan Anand (A-I) bt Arup Baidya (Rly) 15-7 15-1; Vijay Lancy (PSCB) bt Jaison Xavier (Ker) 8-15 15-14 15-2; Abhinn Shyam Gupta (BAI) bt Srikant Bakshi (Rly) 15-12 15-10; Nikhil Kanetkar (PSCB) bt Joy Antony (Ker) 15-11 15-4; Ajit Wijetilak (PSCB) bt JBS Vidyadhar (AP) 15-13 15-6.

Men doubles (PQF): Jaseel Ismail/ Vincent Lobo (PSCB) bt U Vimalkumar/ Vinay (BSB) 15-9 15-3; Roopesh Kumar/ H Nishant (Ker) bt Mitesh (Rly)/ Vidyadhar (AP) 8-15 15-5 15-12; Ajit Wijetilak/ Jose bt Souman B/ HK Sengupta (WB) 15-9 15-0; Bhushan Akut/ Vijay Lancy (Mah) bt Bhaskar/ T Yabang (Asm) 15-4 17-14; Deepak A/ Jaison Xavier (Ker) bt Thomas K/ Joy Antony (Ker) 15-3 16-17 15-9; Rajeev Bagga/ Srikant Bakshi (Mah) bt Anirudh/ Milind G 17-14 17-16; Vijaydeep Singh/ Markose Bristow bt NS Prakash/ BG Kiran (Ktk) 15-4 15-7.

Women singles (PQF): Aparna Popat (PSCB) bt Krupa Telang (Mah) 11-0 11-3; Ketki Thakkar (A-I) bt Krishna Hazarika (Asm) 11-3 7-2 (conceded); PVV Lakshmi (PSCB) bt Pooja Patil (Karnataka) 11-8 11-4; Divya Ramesh (LIC) bt Merit George (Ker) 11-1 11-5; Leena Pednekar (LIC) bt Aditi Biswas (Kar) 11-7 11-2; Manjusha Kanwar (PSCB) bt Shruti Kurien (AP) 11-6 8-11 11-3; Neelima Choudhary (PSCB) bt G Jwala (AP) 11-4 13-10; BR Meenakshi (Kar) bt Nupura Bhide (Mah) 11-3 11-0. 3rd round: Aparna Popat (PSCB) bt Ruchi Kapil (UP) 11-1 11-0; Leena Pednekar (Goa) bt Meenakshi Wagh (Mah) 11-1 11-2; Krupa Telang (Mah) bt Sridevi Gagil (Kar) 11-0 11-4; Aditi Biswas (Kar) bt Preethi Gupta (JK) 11-1 11-1; Ketki Tiwari (A-I) bt Barnali Raha (WB) 11-4 10-13 11-6; Sruthi Kurien (AP) bt Devi Suma (Ker) 11-8 11-4; Krishna Hazarika (Asm) bt Sampada Shetye (Rly) 11-9 11-6; Manjusha Kanwar (PSCB) bt BR Kokila 11-4 11-3; PVV Lakshmi (PSCB) bt Krishna Deka Raja (Asm) 11-1 11-7; G Jwala (AP) bt Anumol Joy (Ker) 11-8 11-7; PoojaPatil (Kar) bt Tanuja Begum (Rly) 7-11 13-10 11-2; Nupura Bide (Mah) bt Oli Deka (Asm) 4-11 13-10 11-2; Divya Ramesh (LIC) bt Neha Gangolli (Mah) 11-2 6-11 11-7; BR Meenakshi (Kar) bt Poonam Tiwari (UP) 11-1 11-4.

Women doubles (PQF): Madhumita B (Rly)/ PVV Lakshmi (PSCB) bt Meetha B/ Krishna D (Pjb) 15-4 15-2; Devi Suma/ Fatima M (Ker) bt Vinaya Shetty/ Nazneen (Rly) 15-7 13-15 15-0; Sim Sim S/ Nupura B (Mah) w/o Ketki T/ Trupti M (A-I); BR Meenakshi (Ktk)/ Tanuja Begum (Rly) bt Oli Deka (Asm)/ Leena P (Goa) 15-2 15-2; Neelima Choudhary/ D Swetha bt Manju George (LIC)/ Krishna Hazarika (Asm) 15-8 15-7; Manjusha K/ Archana D (PSCB) w/o Amrutha B/ Debashree (WB); Samapada M/ Madhavi K (Rly) bt Pooja Patil (Kar) 15-5, 15-4, Jwala G/ Sruthi Kurien (AP) bt Poonam/ Juhi Verma (UP) 15-2 15-6.