$20000 Syed Modi Int'l tournament (India)

Discussion in '2004 Tournaments' started by MoS, Dec 14, 2004.

  1. MoS

    MoS Regular Member

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    Contrasting wins for Gopichand, Aparna

    By Our Special Correspondent




    LUCKNOW, DEC. 13. "This is a good victory for me, but a bad sign for Indian badminton." P. Gopichand made a telling statement both on and off the field as hedethroned Chetan Anand 15-12, 12-15, 15-13 in a 97-minute thriller to regain the singles honours in the $20,000 Syed Modi International badminton at the K.D. Singh `Babu' Stadium hall here on Monday.

    Earlier, Aparna Popat needed just 17 minutes to crush Malaysia's second seed Wong Mew Choo 11-3, 11-1 in one of the most one-sided finals of her career.

    he title triumph, worth Rs. 1,10,000, was Gopichand's second of his comeback season after the Asian Satellite Championship in Hyderabad in October. The victory also helped him maintain an all-win record against Chetan, who received Rs. 55,000.

    For Aparna, now a six-time winner here, it was sweet revenge after having lost to the pony-tailed girl in their last two meetings in Malaysia earlier this year. Aparna opened a seven-point lead in the first game and finished the match in a flash by winning the last eight points of the second. Wong could not keep the shuttle in play for long while her defence failed against Aparna's calculated assault. Aparna received Rs. 90,000 and Wong, $1,006.

    After taking care of Arvind Bhat, Anup Sridhar and now Chetan in successive matches, Gopichand had the right to comment on the trio.

    "I think they have to improve in all departments. They need to work on their speed, strength and strokes if they have to make it big," said Gopichand who had beaten Chetan in straight games when they last met in the PSCB inter-unit meet a couple of months back.

    Best chance


    Chetan knew this was his best chance to beat Gopichand. Down 7-12 in the second game, Chetan left Gopichand stranded to level the match. In the decider, too, he looked like scripting a similar rally when he clawed back from 6-13 to make it 13-14. However, in the end, Gopichand's mental strength provided the decisive difference.

    In the men's doubles final, the top seeds Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas were looking for revenge as they had lost to Jaseel Ismail and V. Diju, seeded two, in three finals this season. This time, they got it right with a comfortable 15-12, 15-8 victory in 53 minutes. Rupesh and Thomas collected Rs. 60,000 while Ismail and Diju shared Rs. 40,000.

    Wong Mew Choo again finished second best when she lost the women's doubles final against the favourites Shruti Kurian and G. Jwala. The Indian pair overcame a stiff challenge in the second game before taking the honours with a 15-5, 17-15 victory. The winning pair claimed Rs. 55,000 and the runner-up got $782.

    The results (finals): Men: singles: P. Gopichand bt Chetan Anand 15-12, 12-15, 15-13. Doubles: Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas bt Jaseel P. Ismail and V. Diju 15-12, 15-8.

    Women: singles: Aparna Popat bt Wong Mew Choo (Malaysia) 11-3, 11-1. Doubles: Shruti Kurian and G. Jwala bt Wong Mew Choo and Anita Raj Kaur (Malaysia) 15-5, 17-15.
     
  2. MoS

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    and the semifinals

    Gopichand in final

    By Our Special Correspondent




    LUCKNOW, DEC. 12. For the second time in less than 24 hours, P. Gopichand proved that the country's "talented" youngsters have a long way to go before they can hope to break into the big league of the badminton world.

    Short of training due to a "soft" knee that demands more care than ever, Gopi stopped Anup Sridhar and earned a summit clash with Chetan Anand in the $20,000 Syed Modi international badminton tournament at the Babu Stadium hall here on Sunday.

    After the tough three-game encounter against Arvind Bhatt on Saturday evening, sixth-seeded Gopi hung on grimly in the second game before defeating Sridhar 17-14, 15-10 in 52 minutes. Sridhar had earlier ousted top seed Abhinn Shyam Gupta in the quarterfinals.

    In the other semifinal, Anand posted a 15-5, 15-9 win over Utsav Prakash in 34 minutes.

    Aparna vs Wong


    The women's final will be between top seed Aparna Popat and second ranked Malaysian Wong Mew Choo. Aparna needed half an hour to defeat Indonesian Pia Zubadiah 11-3, 11-6 while Wong Mew Choo needed 75 minutes to down Trupti Murgunde 8-11, 11-7, 11-9.

    Bhatt and Sridhar are considered worthy of taking the baton from Gopi. But Gopi's back to back victories over these players reflects the ability, or rather the lack of it, of these players to nail a player past his prime. Gopi's mobility on court is much slower now and his strokes lack the power he once packedIn the only other match that produced excitement, Trupti raised visions of scripting a memorable victory over Wong after bouncing back from a 1-9 deficit in the decider to make it 9-10. However, she squandered six serving opportunities at nine and moved no further.

    Later, UP's Mishra failed to match Anand's pace in the first game. Backed by the crowd, Mishra did better in the next to lead 9-8 before Anand won the final six points to reach the final.

    The results (Indian unless stated): Men's singles: semifinals: P. Gopichand bt Anup Sridhar 17-14, 15-10; Chetan Anand bt Utsav Mishra 15-5, 15-9.

    Women's singles: semifinals: Aparna Popat bt Pia Zubadiah (Ina) 11-3, 11-6; Wong Mew Choo (Mal) bt Trupti Murgunde 8-11, 11-7, 11-9.

    Men's doubles: semifinals: Rupesh Kumar/Sanave Thomas bt Koh Jack Sian Nguan/Tan Zhao Rong (Mal) 15-13, 15-10; Jaseel P. Ismail/V. Diju bt Tommy Sugiarto/Achmat Rivia (Ina) 15-3, 15-2. (Quarterfinals): Roopesh/Thomas bt K. A. Anish/Joy T. Anthony 15-4, 15-4; Koh Jack Sian Nguan/ Tan Zhao Rong (Mal) bt J. B. S. Vidyadhar/A. Pridhvi 17-16, 15-6; Sugiarto/Rivia bt Markose Bristow/Jaison Xavier 10-15, 15-12, 17-14; Jaseel P. Ismail/V. Diju bt Mitesh Hazarnis/Jose George 15-4, 15-10.

    Women's doubles: semifinals: G. Jwala/Shruti Kurian bt Trupti Murgunde/Aparna Balan 15-3, 15-5; Wong Mew Choo/Anita Raj Kaur (Mal) bt B. R. Meenakshi/C. H. Deepthi 15-7, 15-7. (Quarterfinals): Jwala/Shruti bt Amrita Mukherjee/Barnali Raha 15-3, 15-2; Trupti/Balan bt Pia Zubadiah/Yuan Kartika (Ina) 15-13, 13-15, 17-14; Meenakshi/Deepti bt Oli Deka/Krishan Deka Raja 15-11, 4-5 (concd.); Wong Mew Choo/Anita bt Dhanya Nair and Sharada Govardhini 15-8, 15-5.
     
  3. MoS

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    quarters...

    Gopichand prevails over Arvind

    By Our Special Correspondent




    LUCKNOW, DEC. 11. P. Gopichand may not have much to prove at this stage of his career, but he still showed a younger and fitter Arvind Bhat that when it comes to grit, age and fitness do not matter. Gopichand enthralled his fans by moving into the semifinals of the $20,000 Syed Modi International badminton tournament with a 15-13, 3-15, 15-11 victory over fourth-seeded Bhat in 65 minutes.

    Gopichand's victory pushed into the background Anup Sridhar's conquest of top-seeded Abhinn Shyam Gupta. Sridhar tamed Abhinn 15-9, 15-7 in an error-filled contest that failed to rise above mediocrity.

    Sridhar led right through the 64-minute contest and did not let Abhinn stage a comeback. Before long, Abhinn's Allahabad mate Utsav Prakash gave the crowd something to cheer about when he knocked out second-seeded Nikhil Kanetkar in three games to clash with third seed Chetan Anand.

    Among the women, top-seeded Aparna Popat took her allotted place in the semifinals after racing past youngster Dhanya Nair for the loss of just three points. She now plays Indonesian girl Pia Zubadiah who knocked out fourth-seeded Anita Raj Kaur from Malaysia.

    In the other semifinals, second-seeded Wong Mew Choo meets Trupti Murgunde, the conqueror of B.R. Meenakshi.

    The Gopichand-Bhat match was indeed the contest of the day. Gopichand, nursing a knee that has undergone four surgeries, was careful not to stretch himself too much in order to retrieve the shuttles from the forecourt.

    Though his movements were slower and lacked the power of old, Gopichand still produced winners to overpower Bhat, the Scottish Open winner.

    Gopichand blew away a 4-0 lead but bounced right back from 4-9 and 11-13 to snatch the first game. But the match was level in the next 13 minutes as Bhat caught Gopichand slow on either side with amazing regularity. If Bhat and most in the packed Babu Stadium thought Gopichand could not last the third game, the champion produced a pleasant surprise.

    Returning to the court with a brace on the left knee, Gopichand broke away from 6-all and soon won six points on the trot to come within two points of winning the match. A number of unforced errors from Bhat helped Gopichand's cause who went on to reach match-point. Thereafter Bhat kept his cool and played on Gopichand's nerves to save seven match points.

    Thrice Gopichand erred in judgement and also let go of some easy points. Just when Bhat was beginning to look threatening, Gopichand leapt and smashed hard to bring the crowd to its feet.

    The results:

    Men's singles (quarterfinals): Anup Sridhar bt Abhinn Shyam Gupta 15-9, 15-7; P. Gopichand bt Arvind Bhat 15-13, 3-15, 15-11; Chetan Anand bt Arup Baidya 15-0, 15-2; Utsav Mishra bt Nikhil Kanetkar 15-10, 13-15, 15-11.

    Pre-quarterfinals: Abhinn bt Thomas Kurian 17-14, 15-5; Sridhar bt Achmat Rivia (Indo) 15-2, 15-0; Bhat bt Hemant Duggal 15-9, 15-8; Gopichand bt Rohan Castelino 15-13, 15-5; Baidya bt Sachin Ratti 13-15, 15-11, 15-13; Chetan Anand bt Joy T. Antony 15-11, 15-3; Mishra bt J.B.S. Vidyadhar 9-11, 15-2, 15-11; Kanetkar bt Magrish Palekar 15-4, 15-6.

    Second round: Abhinn bt K.A. Anish 15-12, 15-1; Kurian bt Sumit Dahiya 15-4, 15-6; Sridhar bt Jibi Verghese 15-6, 15-14; Rivia bt Rutuparna Kulkarni 12-15, 15-4, 15-13; Bhat bt Himanshu Thakkar 15-7, 15-10; Hemant Duggal bt Utsav Prakash 15-7, 15-6; Gopichand bt Rajiv Bajaj 15-6, 15-8; Castelino bt K. Tanish 15-4, 15-14; Ratti bt C.M. Shashidhar 15-12, 15-5; Baidya bt Tommy Sugiarto (Indo) 15-9, 15-9; Joy Antony bt Ravinder Singh 15-7, 15-4; Chetan Anand bt Santosh Pandye 15-8, 15-3; Mishra bt Nishad Dravid 15-1, 15-2; Vidhyadhar bt Anuj Gupta 11-15, 15-2, 15-0; Palekar bt A. Pridhvi 15-10, 15-10; Kanetkar bt Mayank Bahl 15-9, 15-7.

    Men's doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Rupesh Kumar & Thomas Sanave bt Jai Singh & Srikant Bakshi 15-3, 15-5; K.A. Anish & Joy T. Antony bt N. Venkatesh & Malik Jalal 15-9, 15-7; Koh Jack Sian Nguan & Tan Zhao Rong (Mal) bt Pashupati Paneru & Balaram Thapa 15-0, 15-2; J.B.S. Vidyadhar & A. Prithvi bt Jayan James & T. Dinesh 15-4, 15-12; Markose Bristow & Jaison Xavier bt K. Tanish & V.N. Vinayak 15-6, 15-5; Tommy Sugiarto & Achmat Rivia (Indo) bt Mayur Ghatnekar & Varun Khanvilkar 15-9, 15-11; Mitesh Hazarinis & Jose George bt Chetan Anand & P. Saratchandra 15-4, 15-14; Jaseel P. Ismail & V. Diju bt Nishad Dravid & Ramesh Naidu 15-2, 15-13.

    Women's singles (quarterfinals): Aparna Popat bt Dhanya Nair 11-1, 11-2; Pia Zubadiah (Indo) bt Anita Raj Kaur (Mal) 11-6, 11-5; Trupti Murgunde bt B.R. Meenakshi 11-6, 11-9; Wong Mew Choo (Mal) bt G. Jwala 11-5, 11-3.

    Pre-quarterfinals: Aparna bt T. Sowmya 11-1, 11-1; Dhanya bt Parsha Naqvi 11-9. 13-11; Anita bt C.H. Deepti 11-1, 11-2; Pia bt Shruti Kurian 11-5, 8-11, 11-6; Meenakshi bt Aditi Biswas 11-8, 11-7; Trupti bt Abantika Deka 11-1, 11-8; Jwala bt Yuan Kartika 11-3, 11-2; Wong bt Krishna Dekaraja 13-10, 11-3.

    Women's doubles (first round): Amrita Mukherjee & Barnali Raha bt Sara Devi Tamang & Sumina Shreshtha 15-8, 15-3; Trupti Murgunde & Aparna Balan bt Merian George & Miral George 15-0, 15-3; Pia Zubadiah & Yuan Kartika bt Deepti Priyadarshini & Deepti Shalini 17-15, 17-14; Oli Deka & Krishna Dekaraja bt Aswini Chowdhary & T. Sowmya 15-10, 15-10; B.R. Meenakshi & C.H. Deepti 15-6, 15-9.
     

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