Kashyap, Sindhu in quarters of Syed Modi badminton

Lucknow, Dec 20 (IANS) London Olympic quarterfinalist Parupalli Kashyap stormed into the quarterfinals of the men’s singles at the $120,000 Syed Modi India Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament at the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium here Thursday.

The 26-year-old beat Thai Parinyawat Thongnuam 21-16, 21-17 to emerge as the favourite to win the titles.

In the first match of the day, second seed P.V. Sindhu set the tone for the day’s proceedings with a breezy dash into the round of 16 of the women’s singles.

The World No.24 hardly met any resistance as she trounced unseeded Victoria Na of Australia 21-9, 21-9 in a contest which barely lasted 18 minutes. Sindhu next plays Febby Angguni of Indonesia in Friday’s quarterfinal

“I had never played against her (Victoria) before, but it was easy today. I did not really have any issues winning the match. The next round will be a bit tough,” said Sindhu.

National champion Sayali Gokhale, who hails from Pune, however, lost 15-21, 11-21 to the fifth-seed Aprilla Yuswandari of Indonesia. India’s G. Shivani Ruthvika also went down to Thailand’s Nichaon Jindapon 21-4, 21-13.

India’s R.M.V. Gurusaidutt caused quite a flutter in the men’s singles, scoring a delectable win over Malaysia’s Mohammad Arif Abdul Latif, the seventh seed here. The 22-year-old Indian who had won the gold medal at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games, wrapped up the contest with a 21-10, 21-16 win over the Malaysian in 41 minutes.

“He (Latif) is a tricky player but I was prepared today. I trusted my fitness and I’m glad that it worked today,” said Gurusaidutt.

In an all-India pre-quarterfinal, Kidambi Srikanth upset fourth Mumbai’s Ajay Jayaram 21-18, 21-18 in 42 minutes.

In another men’s pre-quarterfinal match, Indonesia’s Alamsyah Yunus defeated South Korea’s Yim Jong Woo 21-17, 21-13.

Men’s singles (pre-quarterfinals): Yunus Alamsyah (Ina-5) bt Jong Woo Yim (Kor) 21-17, 21-13; RMV Gurusaidutt (12) bt Mohamad Arif (Mas-7) 21-10, 21-16;HS Prannoy bt Siswanto (Ina) 21-18, 21-12; Tommy Sugiarto (Ina-3) bt B Sai Praneeth (16) 12-21, 21-12, 21-16; Soon Huat Goh (Mas) bt Misbun Ramdan Mohmed (Mas) 21-16, 31-21, 21-16; Parupalli Kashyap (2) bt Parinyawat Thongnuam (Tha) 21-16, 21-17; Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (Tha-14) bt Sung Min Park (Kor) 21-11, 19-21, 21-15; K Srikanth bt Ajay Jayaram (4) 21-18, 21-18.

Women’s singles (pre-quarterfinals): Saniru Sannatasah (Mas) bt Ksenia Polikarpova (Rus) 21-10, 21-12; Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn-6) bt Maria Febe Kusumastuti (Ina) 21-9, 21-19; Lindaweni Fanetri (Ina-7) bt Rituparna Das 19-21, 21-17, 28-26; Aprilla Yuswandari (Ina-5) bt Sayali Gokhle 21-15, 21-11; PV Sindhu bt Victoria Na (Aus) 21-9, 21-9; Nichaon Jindapon (Tha-4) bt Shivani Ruthvika 21-4, 21-14; Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Tha-3) bt Sonia Su Ya Cheah (Mas) 13-21, 21-5, 21-11; Febby Angguni (Ina) bt Hera Desi (Ina-8) 15-21, 21-19, 21-10.

IANS 2012-12-20 21:24:04