More or less, the script followed an expected course with P. Kashyap, Saina Nehwal along with the duo of V. Diju and G. Jwala advancing without dropping a game to provide the bright spots following the exit of most Indians on view in the Badminton Asia championship at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here on Wednesday.
Saina finished the day’s proceedings for the Indians by whipping Thailand’s Porntip Buranaprasertsuk 21-10, 21-13 in 25 minutes after taking the court vacated by the victorious top seeds Diju and Jwala.
Kashyap, seeded 13, remained the only hope for the host in the men’s singles after he registered straight game victories over Hong Kong’s Wing Ki Wong and Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto. He now plays seventh seed Yun Hu, also of Hong Kong for a place in the quarterfinals.
While top seed Taufik Hidayat made it to the round of 16 with expected ease, World champion Lin Dan advanced at the expense of Anand Pawar 21-14, 21-12 in just 24 minutes.
Aditi Mutatkar was the only other Indian winner on this day. She fought back brilliantly in the decider to nail Fu Mingtian of Singapore.
Arvind Bhat, failed to justify his 16th seeding after Korea’s Ji Hoon Hong handed out a three-game defeat in 50 minutes. Looking almost jaded after winning the second game, Bhat hardly offered any resistance in the decider, losing 6-21.
Anup Sridhar battled from a first-game loss to beat a fast-tiring Korean in three games but ran out of ideas in the afternoon in his second-round clash against Malaysia’s Chong Chieh Lok during the 33-minute encounter.
Among the ladies, Trupti Murgunde could not raise her game against Julia Pei Xian Wong and surrendered in just 28 minutes. On Thursday, it will be up to Saina to avenge this loss when she plays Julia.
Among the leading seeds, men’s sixth seed and All-England finalist Japanese Kenichi Tago survived several anxious moments against Malaysia’s Beng Hong Kuan and battled to a 11-21, 21-14, 21-14 victory.
The results (involving Indians, prefix denotes seeding): Men’s singles: Second round: Chong Chieh Lok (Mas) bt Anup Sridhar21-19, 21-15; 2-Lin Dan (Chn) bt Anand Pawar 21-14, 21-12; 13-P.Kashyap bt Tommy Sugiarto (Ina) 21-14, 21-16; Ji Hoon Hong (Kor) bt16-Arvind Bhat 21-15, 13-21, 21-6.
First round: Nugroho Andi Saputro (Ina) bt K. Nandagopal 21-15, 21-15; 11-Yan Kit Chan (Kor) bt Ajay Jayaram 14-21, 21-13, 21-17; Anand Pawar bt Sophorn Noun 21-3, 21-6; Anup Sridhar bt Ye Wook Rho (Kor) 16-21, 21-13, 21-8; 16-Arvind Bhat bt Bikash Shrestha 21-14, 21-11; Kashyap bt Wing Ki Wong (Hkg) 21-14, 21-15;
Women’s singles: First round: Saina Nehwal bt Porntip Buranapresertsuk (Tha) 21-10, 21-13; Julia Pei Xian Wong (Mas) bt Trupti Murgunde 21-17, 21-12; Aditi Mutatkar bt Mingtian Fu (Sin) 21-11, 17-21, 21-18; Lydia Li Ya Cheah (Mas) bt Neha Pandit 21-14, 21-19; Beiwen Zhang (Sin) bt Sayali Gokhale 21-11, 9-21, 21-18.
Mixed doubles: First round: V. Diju and G. Jwala bt Wai Hong Wong and Hoi Wah Chau (Hkg) 21-13, 21 12; Sang Hoon and HanYe Na Jang (Kor) bt Jishnu Sanyal and P. Jyotshna 21-14, 21-9; L. F.Devin and Lillyana (Ina) bt Tarun Kona and Shruti Kurien 21-9, 21-9; Yohan Hadikusumo and Ying Suet Tse (Hkg) bt Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan 21-15, 21-15.
