Date:15/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/15/stories/2008121550921700.htm

Sport - Badminton

Pranoy shocks Gopal to advance

Principal Correspondent

SIVAKASI: H.S. Pranoy of Kerala continued his good run in the 33rd junior National badminton championship to upset second seed K. Nanda Gopal of Andhra Pradesh 21-18, 21-18 in the boys’ singles quarterfinals, here on Sunday.

Pranoy’s powerful smashes troubled his opponent from the onset and he opened up a 16-10 lead in the first game.

In a bid to finish off the points quickly, Pranoy committed a few unforced errors, which enabled Gopal to bring down the margin.

But the Kerala player played a lot more sensibly towards the end to clinch the first game.

With the scores tied at 16-all in the second, the game was poised for a tight finish.

But Gopal put shots into the net at crucial moments and let his rival off the hook.

In the girls’ section, Tamil Nadu’s A. Archana breezed into the quarterfinal after beating Shivalya Gupta of Uttar Pradesh 21-12, 21-12.

The results:

Boys: Singles: Quarterfinals: B. Sumeeth Reddy (AP) bt S. Aravind (AP) 21-17, 21-19; Prakash Jolly (Kar) bt B. Sai Praneeth 17-21, 21-17, 21-13; Aditya Prakash (Kar) bt Akshit Mahajan (Har) 21-14, 21-18; H.S. Pranoy (Ker) bt K. Nanda Gopal (AP) 21-18, 21-18.

Doubles:

Pre-quarterfinals: Jaya Jawahar & S. Aravind (AP) bt Dharamveer & Vikalp Tiwari (U.P.) 21-17, 23-21; Akshit Mahajan & Gaurav Pahwa (Har) bt Sunjith & K. Dilshad (Ker) 16-21, 21-13, 21-13; Pranav Chopra (AI) & Sai Praneeth (AP) bt B. Sumeeth Reddy (AP) & H.S. Pranoy (Ker) 21-19, 21-13; Mohammed Zameer & Velavan (TN) bt Prakash Jolly & Pratap Menon (Kar) 21-18, 11-21, 21-16; Neeraj Rehman & Vishnu Prasad (Ker) bt Pratik Khurana & Rishikesh Yelkar (Kar) 21-23, 21-17, 21-16; K. Nanda Gopal & Navin (AP) bt Eshan Naqvi & Bishal Das (Mah) 21-17, 21-12; Prateek Patel & Aditya Prakash (AI) bt Darshan Kulkarni & Dhruv Shanbag (Kar) 21-15, 23-21; M.R. Manikandan & B. Ashok (TN) bt Sourav Chatterjee & Pushan Roy (WB) 23-21, 21-13.

Girls:

Singles: Pre-quarterfinals: Anuradha Shirkande (AI) bt Sayee Purandaree (Mah) 21-15, 24-22; P.V. Sindhu (AP) bt Gauri Ghate (Mah) 21-14, 15-21, 21-12; P.C. Thulasi (Ker) bt Saloni Yadav (MP) 21-5, 21-6; A. Archana (TN) bt Shivalya Gupta (U.P.) 21-12, 21-12; Vaishali Baria (AI) bt Sara Naqvi (U.P.) 21-15, 24-22; Saili Rane (Mah) bt J. Meghana (AP) 21-13, 21-14; Pradnya Gadre (Mah) bt Jaquleen Kunnath (Kar) 25-23, 26-24; N. Sikki Reddy (AP) bt Vijetha Bhargav (MP) 21-10, 21-11.

Doubles: Pre-quarterfinals: N. Sikki Reddy (AP) & P.C. Thulasi (Ker) bt K. Vidya & Archana Devi (TN) 21-5, 21-6; Riya Pillai & Minti Kaur (Mah) bt Garima Yadav & Saloni Yadav (MP) 21-16, 21-13; Pradnya Gadre & Sweta Kelkar (Mah) bt Aarthi Sara Sunil & Daya Elsa Jacob (Ker) 21-6, 21-14; Adfa Taqvi & Jaquleen Kunnath (Kar) bt Sumana Phukun & Syeda Roslina Begum (Asm) 21-12, 21-13; O. Aditi & P. Lavanya (AP) bt Gurmit Kaur & Kavita Singh (U.P.) 21-13, 22-20; Anuradha Shirkande & Sanyogita Ghorpade (AI) bt Sangamitra Saikia & Megna Dutta (Asm) 21-4, 21-6; Vaishali Baria & Saili Rane bt P.V. Sindhu & Manisha (AP) 21-19, 21-13; P.L. Linimol & Mega Marin Ninan (Ker) bt Shrudha Srivastav & Nidhi Tiwari (Del) 21-11, 21-15.