Date:22/04/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/04/22/stories/2005042202942100.htm

Sport - Badminton

Arjun stuns Kamala Kannan

Special Correpsondent

MUMBAI: Karnataka youngster Arjun Gautam, seeded sixth, won a hard-fought 6-3, 7-6 (5) quarterfinals match against fourth seed Kamala Kannan (Tamil Nadu) on a day when other seeds booked expected semifinal places in the National ranking men's tennis tournament on Thursday.

The sixth seeded is drawn against top seed Vinod Sridhar (TN) in the semifinal. Joining Sridhar in the last four is Mumbai player Karan Rastogi, seeded third. He brushed aside fifth seed Ashutosh Singh (Delhi) and set up an interesting clash with former national champion Nitin Kirtane.

The results:

Men's singles (quarterfinals): 1-Vinod Sridhar (TN) bt 7-Vishnu Vardhan (AP) 6-1, 6-2; 6-Gautam Arjun (Kar) bt 4-Kamla Kannan (TN) 6-3, 7-6 (5); 3-Karan Rastogi (Mah) bt 5-Ashutosh Singh (Del) 6-3, 6-1; Nitin Kirtane (Mah) bt Kedar Tembe (Mah) 6-3, 7-6 (4).

Men's doubles (quarterfinals): 1-Ajay Ramaswamy (Mah)/ Ashutosh

Singh (Del) bt Raja Purav (Mah)/ Arjun Hitkari (Mah) 7-6 (4), 6-1; 2-Vinod Sridhar/ Kamla Kannan (TN) bt Vivek Reddy/ Madan Manchit (AP) 6-2, 6-3.