The Hindu : Sport / Badminton : Vinay surprises Sashidhar

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Sunday, Aug 05, 2007
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Sport - Badminton

Vinay surprises Sashidhar

Principal Correspondent

JAGTIYAL: Vinay Kumar Reddy knocked out second-seeded C.M. Sashidhar 21-13, 21-13 in the men’s singles quarterfinal of the AP State senior badminton championship here on Saturday.

Sashidhar was undone by Vinay’s impressive forehand cross-court returns and his a deadly combination of jump smashes. Obviously rattled by some poor line calls, Sashidhar never really moved into top gear except for some odd powerful down-the-line smashes.

In contrast, top-seeded J.B.S. Vidyadhar had a much easier passage after the injured opponent T. Krishna of Nalgonda conceded the tie with the scoreline reading 21-13, 11-10 in favour of the former.

In the women’s singles quarterfinals, top-seed J. Sruthi survived a scare before getting the better of a fighting I.R.D. Sravani 21-9, 14-21, 21-17. She was rattled by the way Sravani fought back after being totally outplayed in the first game. Sravani’s good net game coupled with her speed and power put her back in the second game.

A tired Sruthi cleverly opted for a few breaks in the decider, even engaging the line judges in some arguments to recoup herself and eventually got the better of the younger Sravani.

The results: Men: singles: Quarterfinals: J.B.S. Vidhyadhar bt T. Krishna 21-13, 11-10 (cond.); B. Kiran Kumar bt N.N. Vinayak 25-23, 21-8; R.M.V. Guru Sai Dutt bt M. Prashanth 21-15, 21-17; Vinay Kumar Reddy bt C.M. Sashidhar 21-13, 21-13. Pre-qua rterfinals: Vidhyadhar bt K. Nandagopal 21-6, 21-5; Krishna bt I. Lokesh 24-22, 21-19, 21-7; Vinayak bt C.M. Suresh 21-16, 21-15; Kiran Kumar bt Prajun Reddy 21-18, 21-18; Prashanth bt Anil Raja 2-21, 21-7; Guru Sai Dutt bt M.G. Murali 21-18, 21-12; Vinay Kumar Reddy bt Sumith Reddy 21-13, 21-13; C.M. Sashidhar bt K. Karthikeya 21-9, 21-10. Women’s singles: Quarterfinals: J. Sruthi bt I.R.D. Sravani 21-9, 14-21, 21-17; Sikki Reddy bt T. Lavanya 21-16, 21-14; Srilaxmi bt O. Aditi 21-10, 21-16. Pre-quarterfinals: Sruthi bt A. Karuna 23-21, 21-11; Sravani bt Sowmya 21-16, 21-10; Srilaxmi bt B. Rajendra Kumari 21-4, 21-9; Aditi bt Ramadei 21-10 21-11; Lavanya bt Radhika Reddy 21-12, 21-13; Sikki Reddy bt She etal Mohan Das 21-10, 21-12; P. Jyotsna bt Ch. Jyotsna 22-20, 21-6; Sarada Govardhani bt P. Ramya 21-7, 21-12. Women’s doubles: Semifinals: Deepthi Priyadarshini / Aswini bt O. Aditi / A. Karuna 21-10, 21-15; Sikki Reddy / Jyotsn a bt Lavanya / T.Veda 21-8, 21-12; Sarada Govardhani / Suswetha bt Sarada Reddy / Sruthi 21-16, 18-21, 21-12; T.Sowmya / B.Sreelakshmi bt I.R.S. Sravani / M.Sravanthi 21-16, 21-12.