But their further happiness depends on the advancement they
make as they could to run into some of the better and seeded players in the
run-up to the medal rounds. Even among the men’s qualifiers, there a few lucky
ones who have received first-round byes. For instance, both the left-handed
Sanil Shetty and Sudhanshu Grover have been accorded this largesse, thanks to
their higher rankings.
In the top-half of men’s draw, Abhishek Yadav runs into
top-seed Li Hu of Singapore
in the pre-quarters while Anthony Amalraj will meet England ’s David McBeath, who poses
some troubles to the hosts in team event. Shetty was lucky enough to get the
best possible draw as he will meet Singapore ’s weak link in team
event, Chew Zhe Yu Clerence in the last 16 and is expected to go through to the
quarterfinals. Harmeet Desai may run into Helsan Weerasinghe in the
pre-quarters.
As for the bottom half, second seeded Somyajit Ghosh is
expected to go through to the medal round without a hitch, but G. Sathiyan
could meet Singapore ’s
sixth-seeded Chen Feng in the last eight stages. Unseeded Devesh Karia has to
go past Chen if he nourishes any chance of upsetting Sathiyan in the quarters
to enter the semifinals. Sudhanshu Grover is expected to move into the
quarterfinals but he will run into compatriot Ghosh there.
Simialrly, it was a pleasant result for the hosts to see all
four Indian women qualifiers entering the second stage. However, it remains to
be seen how many out of the eight Indian eves, including those four who were given
direct entries in the main draw, survives to go through to the medal round.
One look at the draw can put things in perspective. There
are two Indians practically in every quarter and that produces a clearer
picture, reducing their rate of survival by every match. The match between K.
Shamini and Louiza Kourea of Cyprus
could be tricky but Manika Batra should easily overcome Sri Lankan Erandi
Warusawithana and enter the pre-quarterfinals from the top half. Similarly,
Mouma Das and Ankita, from the bottom half, have better chance than Pooja
Sahasrabuddhe.
In other words, Madhurika Patkar and Krittiwika Sinha Roy
crossing the first hurdle is completely ruled out as they are drawn to meet top
two seeds in the first round of the championships. Even Divya Deshpandey will
find it difficult to go past Ho Tin-Tin, a difficult customer.
Of all the Indian women, unranked Divya Deshpande has had
two tough matches—first against Singapore’s Yee Herng Hwee, who is ranked 379
in the world, and Ruvini Kannangara of Sri Lanka—and came out unscathed in two
five-setters. In the first round, Madhurika Patkar, also unranked, downed Sri Lanka ’s
Isara Madurangi, ranked 434 in the world, 11-7, 11-7, 11-8.
Both Devesh Karia and Abhishek Yadav had at least one round
of difficult matches but they overcame to enter the main draw. Abhishek beat
Kut Lingeveldt of South Africa
11-8, 12-10, 4-11, 11-6 in the first round while Devesh outsmarted Ryan Jenkins
of Wales
11-5, 4-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9 in the second. But of these, all other had a very
smooth passage.
All Indian Results:
Men: First Round: Sanil Shetty bt Jordan Wykes (JEY)
11-6, 11-2, 11-5, Sudhanshu Grover bt Hugo Tupper (JEY) 11-4, 11-5, 11-5,
Devesh Karia bt Josh Alexandre (NZ) 11-2, 11-1, 11-2, Abhishek Yadav bt Kurt
Lingeveldt (RSA) 11-8, 12-10, 4-11, 11-6; 2nd round: Devesh Karia bt
Ryan Jenkins (WAL) 11-5, 4-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9, Abhishek Yadav bt Cutis
Humphreys (TTO) 13-11, 11-2, 7-11, 11-2; 3rd round: Sanil Shetty bt
Arun Roopnarine (TTO)11-6, 11-3, 11-4, Sudhanshu Grover bt Hristo Hristonov
(CYP) 11-6, 11-9, 10-12, 11-4, Devesh Karia bt Aaron Wilson (TTO) 11-6, 12-10,
11-8, Abhishek Yadav bt Tom Jarvis (ENG) 4-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-7.
Women: First Round: Pooja Sahasrabuddhle bt Linda
Partap (TTO) 11-2, 11-4, 11-3, Krittwika Sinha Roy bt Ashley Givan (IRL) 11-6,
11-6, 4-11, 9-11, 12-10, Divya Deshpandey bt Yee Herng Hwee (SIN) 11-8, 11-5,
11-7, Madhurika Patkar bt Isara Madurangi (SRI) 11-7, 11-7, 11-8; 2nd
round: Divya Deshpande bt Zodwa (RSA) 11-6, 11-9, 11-9, Madhurika Patkar
bt Koh Kai Xin Pearlyn (SIN) 11-5, 11-9, 11-3, Krittwika Sinha Roy bt
Khanyisile Madlala (RSA) 11-9, 11-3, 11-4; 3rd round: Pooja
Sahasrabudhe bt Caitlin Lingeveldt 11-7, 11-7, 11-1, Divya Deshpande b Ruvini
Kannangara (SRI) 9-11, 13-15, 11-4, 11-6, 11-3, Madhurika Patkar bt Allena
Edwards (TTO) 11-2, 11-3, 11-3, Krittiwika Sinha Roy bt Alexia Christodoulou
(CYP) 11-5, 11-5, 11-4.
TTFI Press release
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