Vidyadhar shocks Sridhar

Pune, Dec 17 (UNI) Unseeded 29-year-old J B S Vidyadhar knocked out top-seed Anup Sridhar 17-21, 21-7, 21-6 in the Patni Computers All-India 'Major' Ranking Badminton Championship, being played at the WIE Sports Complex here today.

Vidyadhar, who was distinctly the odd player among the all semifinalists, became the talking point as he knocked out Sridhar after a 58-minute battle.

The win was a revenge for Vidydhar, who had lost last year during the Surat 'Major'. ''We've had healthy battles in the past...not much to choose from,'' he said.

Unpertubed by the past, Vidyadhar gracefully accepted that Sridhar was a strong player and today's win came basically because of a positive frame of mind. Having played on level terms till 15-15 in the first game, Vidyadhar injured his little finger of the right hand.

The swelling was evident as the 32nd point (15-17) contested between Sridhar and Vidyadhar was won by the latter. Thereon, Vidyadhar lost most of his points on unforced errors before getting back his focus in the next two games.

In fact, Sridhar's loss was punctuated with errors at the wrong moment which, most times, was exploited by well directed strokes by Vidyadhar.

Vidyadhar now runs into No 2 P Kashyap (Andhra Pradesh) who beat No 3 Anand Pawar in a gripping 142-point marathon (18-21, 30-29, 23-21) that lasted 97 minutes.

Unlike the men's section, the women's singles was a tale of two stories, which ended up producing a final between Trupti Murgunde and Aditi Mutatkar, the No 1 and 2 seeds. Incidentally, both met in the Bangalore final five days ago, in which Aditi triumphed.

With the top-four seeds battling it out, Trupti's 21-8, 21-5 win over No 4 Dhanya Nair was rarther unfair. In game one, after taking a 6-5 lead, Trupti accelerated to claim 11 points in a row, while in the next game an 8-0 initial advantage portrayed the mismatch.

Later, No 2 Aditi Mutatkar quelled Gayati Vartak, who like Vidyadhar was unseeded, but not as lucky. The 21-13, 14-21, 21-17 win by Aditi was a kind of 'gift' by Gayatri, who in the third game lost 8 points in a row after leading 17-13.

''I tried playing her close to the net and win points off her but then she outsmarted me,'' said Gayatri.

RESULTS: Men's Singles (Semi Finals): JBS Vidyadhar (AP) bt 1-Anup Sridhar (PSPB) 17-21, 21-17, 21-16; 2-P Kashyap (AP) bt 3-Anand Pawar (A-I) 18-21, 30-29, 23-21.

Quarter Finals: 1-Anup Sridhar (PSCB) bt T Tanishique (AP) 21-9, 21-19; JBS Vidyadhar (AP) b Sagar Chopda (Mah) 24-22, 21-16; 3-Anand Pawar (A-I) bt 6-Ajay Jayram (Mah) 21-18, 21-19; 2-P Kashyap (AP) bt Utsav Mishra (A-I) 21-19, 21-13.

Doubles: 1-Rupesh Kumar/ Sanave Thomas (PSPB/ Ker) bt Arun Vishnu/ JBS Vidyadhar (Ker/ AP) 21-13, 21-17; 3-Jayan James/ T Dinesh (Rly) bt Rajeev Bajaj/ Uday Bhaskar (Rly) 21-17, 15-21, 21-12; Akshay Develkar/ V Diju (Rly/ A-I); 3-Ram C Vijay/ Utsav Mishra (Ker/ A-I) 21-12, 21-15; 2-Jose George/ Jaseel Ismail (Ktk/ Ker) bt Shankar Gopan/ Allwyn Francis (Ker) 21-15, 18-21, 21-17.

Women's Singles (Semi Finals): 1-Trupti Murgunde (PSPB) bt 4-Dhanya Nair (Rly) 21-8, 21-5; 2-Aditi Mutatkar (PSCB) b Gayatri Vartak (Mah) 21-13, 14-21, 21-17.

Quarter Finals: 1-Trupti Murgunde (PSPB) bt Sayali Gokhale (A-I) 21-12, 21-16; 4-Dhanya Nair (Rly) bt Abantika Deka (Asm) 21-17, 21-18; Gayatri Vartak (Mah) bt 3-Aparna Balan (Ker) 21-7, 13-21, 23-21; 2-Aditi Mutatkar (PSCB) b Neha Pandit (A-I) 21-16, 21-14.

Doubles: 1-Aparna Balan/ P Jyotsna (Ker/ AP) bt Rimi Hazarika/ Anjali Kalita (Asm) 21-18, 21-17; Trupti Murgunde/ Saumya Padhaye (PSCB/ Ktk) bt 4-Anita Ohlan/ Dhanya Nair (Rly) 21-18, 21-12; Ashwini Ponappa/ Nitya Sosale (Ktk) b J A Priya/ Anees Kowser (Rly/ TN) 21-14, 21-16; Abhantika Deka/ Bibari Basumantya (Asm) bt 2-E Deepti Shalini/ Deepti Priyadarshini (AP) 21-19, 19-21, 21-9.

UNI