Saina Nehwal had little cause for worry in her second round match at the Yonex-Sunrise India Open Grand Prix on Thursday. The top seed trounced the unseeded Dhanya Nair 21-9, 21-9.
“I know how Indians play. So, that was not a problem. Next, I play Sayali (Gokhale) and I expect some fight,” said Saina after the match. Once again, the drift from the air conditioner was upsetting. “The drift was faster today as compared to yesterday. I heard other players complaining too,” said the world No. 6.
The story wasn’t the same for Chetan Anand. The top seed in the men's category had a tough time in his third round match against compatriot Saurabh Verma. The world No. 19 won 13-21, 21-17, 21-15. ”I was not able to get my length and rhythm and eventually lost the first game. I was feeling low on energy. But a power failure helped me recoup in the second game. I was trailing 6-11 but later I was up 11-10,” said Chetan after the match that lasted 54 minutes.
Asked about the opponent, Chetan said though Verma put up a decent fight, the latter paid for his mistakes, “He tried to keep the shuttle down and tried to play a parallel game but fell into the trap for a while and lost points. By second game, I concentrated less on getting points and attacked more on counter play and that helped,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Asked about the opponent, Chetan said though Verma put up a decent fight, the latter paid for his mistakes, “He tried to keep the shuttle down and tried to play a parallel game but fell into the trap for a while and lost points. By second game, I concentrated less on getting points and attacked more on counter play and that helped,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}In an upset, India’s eighth seed, Ajay Jayaram, lost to Sean Tang Chun of Malaysia 21-16, 16-21, 18-21. The Malaysian will take on Chetan. Tanvir Gill and Mohita Sachdeva gave a walkover in their mixed doubles as Gill was down with a case of high fever.