India's Saurabh Verma upset Thailand's Suppanyu Avhingsanon 21-13, 18-21, 21-16 in the men's singles first round of the Tata Open badminton International Challenge 2010 at the Cricket Club of India courts here on Tuesday.
The highlight of this encounter was the fast-paced rallies, where the Indian youngster matched his experienced rival before nailing him in due course. Suppanyu came to the Mumbai event after reaching the men's singles final last week at the Indian Open in Hyderabad and was the firm favourite against Saurabh.
Saurabh won the first game, led 16-14 in the second before losing it at 18-21. He switched back to his familiar rhythm in the third and won it at 21-16.
Saurabh, based in Hyderabad at the P. Gopichand Academy, had watched the Indian Open men's final on television. “We are made to train hard at the academy by Gopichand Sir and other coaches, so I was prepared,” said the 18-year-old from Dhar, Madhya Pradesh.
Russian sixth seed Stanislav Pukhov made short work of Sagar Chopda 21-17, 21-14 in a second round tie.
Indonesia's Fransiska Ratnasari, the women's No. 1 seed, got through a determined Rawinda Prajongjai of Thailand 21-17, 21-14 in the second round. Ajay Jayaram, seeded second, retired against Indonesia's Arif Ramadhan due to a back problem.
The results:Women's singles: Second round: Fransiska Ratnasari (Ina) bt Rawinda Prajongjai (Tha) 21-17, 21-14. First round: Rawinda Prajongjai (Tha) bt Saili Rane (India) 21-7, 21-9; Sanyogita Ghorpade (Ind) bt Kunnath Jaqueline Rose (Ind) 21-15, 21-18; Parssa Naqvi (Ind) bt Rozina Akter (Ban) 21-10, 22-20; Mohita Sahdev (Ind) bt Shapla Aktar (Ban) 21-8, 21-12; Hanna Ramadhini (Ina) bt Bibari Basumatari (Ind) 21-14, 21-12; Tanvi Lad (Ind) bt Pooja Shrestha (Nep) 21-9, 21-7; Gayatri Vartak (Ind) bt Alina Sultana (Ban) 21-15, 21-11; Sayali Gokhale (Ind) bt Mudra Dahinje (Ind) 21-13, 21-13; Sheshadri Sanyal (Ind) bt Nagshala Tamang Devi (Nep) 21-5, 21-8; Febby Angguni (Ina) bt Sampada Sahastrabudhe (Ind) 21-16, 21-15; Neha Pandit (Ind) bt Dulali Hulder (Ban) 21-5, 21-10; P.C. Thulasi (Ind) bt Christina Maria Elfira (Ind) 21-19, 21-13.
Men's singles: Second round: Stanislav Pukhov (Russia) bt Sagar Chopda (Ind) 21-17, 21-14.
First round: Yunus Alamsyah (Ina) bt Aditya Prakash (Ind) 3-1 retd.; Goh Soon Huat (Mas) bt Oscar Bansal (Ind) 21-7, 21-9; Wong Zi Liang Derek (Sin) bt Zainuddin Iskandar (Mas) 21-12, 22-20; Riyanto Subagja (Ina) bt Nigel D'Sa (Ind) 14-21, 22-20, 21-11; Tene Andre Marteen (Ina) bt Guaranshu Chopra (Ind) 21-12, 21-12; Sourabh Verma (Ind) bt Suppanyu Avihingsanon (Tha) 21-13, 18-21, 21-16; Anup Sridhar (Ind) bt Misbun Ramdan Misbun (Mal) 21-19, 21-15; K. Nandagopal (Ind) bt Mayank Behal (Ind) 21-16, 21-7; Abdul Latif Mohamad Arif (Mas) bt Aditya Elango (Ind) 20-22, 21-14, 22-20; Tommy Sugiarto (Ind) bt Daniel Gouw (U.S.) 21-6, 21-9; Lim Fang Yang (Mas) bt Enayetullah Khan (Ban) 21-10, 21-11; Arvind Bhat (Ind) bt Rohan Castelino (Ind) 21-17, 21-16; Sagar Chopda (Ind) bt Ai Wei Jian (Mas) 21-10, 21-10; Stanislav Pukhov (Rus) bt Rhustavito Shesar Hiren (Ina) 21-15, 21-17; Lee Jian Jee (Mas) bt Prakash Jolly (Ind) 21-17, 21-16; Arif Ramadhan (Ind) bt Ajay Jayaram (Ind) 3-0 retd.
Mixed doubles: P. Chalardchaleam & S. Amitapai (Tha) bt Tanveer Gill & Abantika Deka (Ind) 21-5, 21-7; Pranav Chopra & Prajakta Sawant (Ind) bt Indra Mehata & Pooja Shrestha (Nep) 21-6, 21-12; S. Matayanumati & J. Pattharaporn (Tha) bt Mostafa Mohammed Jabed & Shapla Aktar (Ban) 21-14 21-11; Akshay Dewalkar & Pradnya Gadre (Ind) bt Mohd. Raisuddin & Dulali Hulder (Ban) 21-17, 21-6; Arun Vishnu & Aparna Balan (Ind) bt Mohd. Ahsun Habib Parash & Alina Sultana (Ban) 21-6, 21-10.
