India Open: Guru Sai Dutt shocks Hashim

CHENNAI - RMV Guru Sai Dutt exhibited a merciless streak to put out second seed Mohd. Hafiz Hashim, and join top ranked Chetan Anand in the men’s singles semi-finals of the Yonex-Sunrise India Open Grand Prix (gold) badminton tournament, here Friday.

Dutt faces compatriot Kashyap Parupalli, the third seed, who knocked out No.6 Anand Pawar 12-21, 21-9, 21-12 to complete the semi-final line-up.

Later, Anand, playing a rather inconsistent game, took nearly an hour to tame unheralded Chun Seang Tan of Malaysia 21-15, 19-21, 21-16, to set up a clash with Yunus Alamsyah of Indonesia who packed off fourth seed Arvind Bhat 21-19, 21-19.

Among the women, favourite Saina Nehwal and second ranked Malaysian Mew Choo Wong stayed on course for the expected showdown in the final with straightforward victories over. Nehwal brushed aside Sayali Gokhale 21-4, 21-8 and Wong defeated Jiayuan Chen 21-9, 21-17.

Nehwal next meets Indonesian Aprilia Yuswandari, a 21-9, 21-6 winner against Aussie Renuga Veeran while Wong takes on Linda Weni Fanetri (Indonesia) who took out Gu Juan (Singapore) 22-20, 21-19.

The 20-year-old Dutt, realising that Hashim, the 2003 All-England champion, was nursing an injured knee, intelligently used the width of the court, making the Malaysian do all the running.

The ploy worked as Hashim threw in the towel in the second game after losing the first.

“I played my natural game and when I realised he was not moving well, I made him run around. I also concentrated on his backhand to force mistakes from him,” said Dutt after notching the biggest win of his fledgling career.

It was touch-and-go in the first game that had Dutt trailing all along until 14-all at which point Hashim showed first signs of flagging. Dutt did not miss out on the offering and swiftly went for the kill. Yet, the Malaysian showed glimpses of his class to hang on until the closing stages of the second game when he retired.

Anand, although decided the superior player of the two, was rather indecisive for much the match, but even then looked good enough to win in straight games.

As he was to admit after the 53-minute match, Anand accorded far too concerned about denying Tan the height to execute telling smashes. In the process, the 29-year-old Indian committed far too many mistakes, but was fortunate that Tan did not have the game to turn it to his advantage.

“I made the match tougher for myself. I played well in the first game, but gave away too many negatives in the second. In the third I led 17-8, but again conceded easy points. I then decided to go for my half-smashes and it helped in the end,” said Anand.

In fact, Anand’s half-smashes, especially the dipping and cross-court, won him crucial points, but tended to play “parallel” against a player who was quite a swift mover and sharp at the net. Ultimately, it was three consecutive half-smashes that helped move from 18-16 to 21-16 in the decider.

The results (all quarterfinals, prefix denotes seeding):

Men’s singles: 7-RMV Guru Sai Dutt (IND) bt 2-Mohd Hafiz Hashim (MAS) 21-18, 16-15 (retd); 1-Chetan Anand (IND) bt Chun Seang Tan (MAS) 21-15, 19-21, 21-16; Yunus Alamsyah (INA) bt 4-Arvind Bhat (IND) 21-19, 21-19; 3-Kashyap Parupalli (IND) bt 6-Anand Pawar (IND) 12-21, 21-9, 21-12.

Women’s Singles: Aprilia Yuswandari (INA) bt Regnua Weeran (AUS) 21-9, 21-6; 2-Mew Choo Wong (MAS) bt 8-Jiayuan Chen (SIN) 22-20, 21-19; 1-Saina Nehwal (IND) bt 6-Sayali Ghokhale (IND) 21-4, 21-8; Linda Weni Fanetri (INA) bt Gu Juan (SIN) 21-9, 21-17.

Men’s doubles: Afiat Yuris Wirawan/Rendy Sugiarto (INA) bt Mohammad Rizki/Muhammad Rijal (INA) 21-10, 21-16; 4-Chayut Triyachart/Danny Bawa Chrisnanta (SIN) bt Berry Angriawan/Muhammad Ulinnuha (INA) 21-18, 21-12; 1-Mohd Fairuzizuan/Mohd Zakry (MAS) bt SDS Krishna/Vineet Manual (IND) 21-13, 21-9;

Women’s doubles: 1-Lei Yao/Shinta Mulia Sari (SIN) bt Debby Susanto/Richi Puspita Dili (INA) 21-13, 21-16; Della Destiara Harris/Suci Rizki Andini (INA) bt 3-Aparna Balan/Shruti Kurien (IND) 15-21, 21-10, 21-11;

Mixed doubles: Jenna Gozali/Ricky Widianto (INA) bt 2-Raj Veeran/Renuga Veeran (AUS) 21-9, 21-13; 4-Muhammad Rijal/Debby Susanto (INA) bt Tarun Kona/Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) 21-9, 21-16; Chayut Triyachart/Lei Yao (SIN) bt 3-Arun Vishnu/Aparna Balan (IND) 22-20, 21-14; 1-Diju Valiyanti/Jwala Gutta (IND) bt Yu Yan Vanessa/Hendri Kurniawan Saputra (INA) 21-17, 19-21, 21-16.