Top seed Kanetkar forced to retire;women's top seed Trupti advances

Mumbai, Dec 13 (UNI) Top seed Nikhil Kanetkar was forced to bow out while the women's top seed Trupti Murgunde sailed into the quarter-final stage of the 5th edition of All India Major Ranking Prize Money Tournament, 2006 at the Cricket Club of India here today.

Kanetkar was compelled to retire after an ongoing illness sapped his energy in his pre-quarterfinal game against Jishnu Sanyal conceeding 21-14, 12-21, 3-2.

Kanetkar, who was using the tournament as a platform to return to match fitness and then launch into the domestic season, started the game off pretty well not feeling any significant effects of his medication. He had no real trouble in wrapping up the first game 21-14. His tired legs got the better of him in the second game.

Unable to play the long rallies, Sanyal, who plays for Air India, took advantage of the condition of Kanetkar and snatched the second game 21-12. At 3-2 in the decider, Kanetkar could no longer keep to the tempo of the game and decided to concede the match to Sanyal.

A disappointed Kanetkar said,''I could not enjoy myself on the court as I was clearly not playing my best. I was really looking forward to the tournament but the throat infection and the antibiotics got the better of me''.

He said,''I will have to take it easy and let my body heal before I play anymore tournaments.'' The women's top seed Trupti Murgunde had a much better day as she had quite an easy 21-4, 21-11 win over Abantika Deka. Murgunde, who is ranked second in India, was in an entirely different league from her opponent. Her shot selection and aggression put Deka on the back foot and kept her there till the end.

Also making it into the quarter-finals was the second seed in the men's category, Anup Sridhar. Sridhar had a safe 21-9, 21-16 passage into the quarter-finals by virtue of knocking out Ravindra Singh from Uttar Pradesh.

Following are the results: Men's Singles (pre-quarters): Jishnu Sanyal (AI) bt 1-Nikhil Kanitkar (PET) 21-14, 12-21, 3-2 (Retired); Sachin Ratti (RLY) bt 8-Utsav Mishra (AI) 25-23, 11-21, 21-9; 3-Anand Pawar (AI) bt Arup Baidya (RLY) 21-19, 21-13; Thomas Kurien (PET) bt 7-C M Shashidar (AP) 10-21, 21-12, 21-14; 5-Rohan Casteleno (KTK) bt Jibi Verghese (CG) 21-13, 21-15; 4-Ajay Jayram (MAH) bt Amit Khadgi (RLY) 18-21, 21-16, 21-14; 2-Anup Sridhar (PET) bt Ravindra Singh (UP) 21-9, 21-16. 6-Sagar Chopda (AI) bt Mayank Behl (Rly) 21-11, 19-21, 21-10.

Men's Singles (1st round): 1-Nikhil Kanitkar (PET) bt Anshuman Hazarika (ASM) 21-5, 21-15; Jishnu Sanyal (AI) bt Rajiv Bajaj (DEL) 21-15, 21-11; 8-Utsav Mishra (AI) bt Amey Joshi (RLY) 21-13, 21-13; Sachin Ratti (RLY) bt Prashant Bahatre (MAH) 21-10, 21-15; 3-Anand Pawar (AI) bt Vinay Kumar Reddy (AP) 21-10, 21-7; Arup Baidya (RLY) bt Manish Rawat (MAH) 21-12, 21-9; 7-C M Shashidar (AP) bt B Kiran Kumar (RLY) 21-7, 21-11; Thomas Kurien (PET) bt Piyush Agarwal 21-5, 21-7; Jibi Verghese (CG) bt Nigel D'sa (MAH) 21-12, 21-18; 5-Rohan Casteleno (KTK) bt T Dinesh (RLY) 22-20, 21-11; Amit Khadgi (RLY) bt Prasad Shetty (MAH) 21-7, 21-12; 4-Ajay Jayram (MAH) bt S D S Krishna (AP) 21-19, 21-12; Mayank Behl (RLY) bt Saurav Kapoor (HAR) 22-20, 21-15; 6-Sagar Chopda (AI) bt Tanvir Gill (DLI) 21-14, 21-7; Ravindra Singh (UP) bt Jerry Martin (TN) 21-6, 16-21, 21-9; 2-Anup Sridhar (PET) bt Sumit Dahiya (HAR) 21-7, 21-8.

Women's Singles (pre-quarters): 1-Trupti Murgunde (PET) bt Abantika Deka (ASM) 21-4, 21-11; 4-Shruti Kurien (PET) bt Neha Pandit (AI) 21-10, 10-21, 21-12; 3-B R Meenakshi (PET) bt Rimi Hazarika RLY) 21-17, 21-13. Ruth Misha (KTK) bt Parul Rawat (RLY) 21-14, 21-17.

Women's Singles (1st round): Sampada Sahasrabudhe (MAH) bt Jui Agaskar (MAH) 21-11, 21-16; Neha Pandit (AI) bt Ridhi Pajwani (RLY) 21-15, 17-21, 21-17; Parul Rawat (RLY) bt Kadambari Chedda (MAH) 21-19, 21-6; Aparna Balan (KER) bt Soumya Padhye (KTK) 21-9, 21-15; Sailee Gokhale (AI) bt Gayatri Vartak (MAH) 21-15, 21-19; Rimi Hazarika (RLY) bt Radhika Reddy (AP) 16-21, 23-21, 21-9; Sonal More (MAH) bt Ashwini Ponnapa (KTK) 21-19, 21-14; Arundhati Pantawane (MAH) bt Anita Ohlan (RLY) 21-19, 21-13.

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