Date:13/12/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/12/13/stories/2004121303051900.htm

Sport - Badminton

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.