Match-ups in QF: Andi Nugroho Saputro vs Sidharth Saboo Rohan Castelino vs Bandar Sigit Pamungkas [8] Andreas Adityawarman [7] vs Mohammed Reza Kheradmandi Engga Setiawan vs Gurusaidutt Rajah Manuri Venkatta I think the toughest match will be the last match. Guru should be the upcoming IND player who performed quite well at the WJC this year (winning a bronze if I am not wrong).
Yes..GURU is up coming India MS player to watch...I wnt be surprised if he beats Engga today..( well..I hope not)
well, gurusaidut is very good imo.. he loves to spoil ppl's party anyway, i still yet to see his style of play..
SF matchup: Andi Nugroho Saputro vs Bandar Sigit Pamungkas [8] Mohd Reza Kheradmandi vs Gurusaidutt Rajah Manuri Venkatta Andreas Adityawarman lost to Irian player While Engga Setiawan lost to the upcoming Indian player as feared.
Grether eases into last four By VIJAY MRUTHYUNJAYA A 34-year-old German veteran Nicole Grether, clearly looking fitter and faster than players half her age, led three Indian youngsters into the women's semi-finals of the Bahrain Air-Bahrain International Badminton Challenge at the Indian Club last night. The men's charge was spearheaded as expected by the Indonesians who booked two of the four berths in the semi-finals while the other two went to an Indian and an Iranian, thus retaining international flavour in the biggest badminton bash on the island. But the spirited Grether hogged the limelight as much for her game on the court as for her girlish exuberance off it. The veteran of two Olympics made short work of Abantika Deka of India 21-15, 21-15 and immediately made her intentions clear. Surprisingly, her goal on her first visit to the Middle East is not the singles title. Her eyes are firmly set on the doubles which she hopes to win with her Canadian partner Charmine Reid as a final memento in her farewell year. Her modest ambitions are understandable to a great extend as most players at her age would be busy pushing a shopping cart rather than sweat it out on a badminton court. But badminton is Grether's passion and she wants to prolong her career as long as her body can bear the burden. "Badminton is not a very popular sport in Germany - soccer, tennis and F1 take precedence. But some of us are passionate about it and love playing it," said Grether who is in the 'Sports Army' section of the Germany military. "I'm officially part of the army. But my main business is my sport as long as I keep playing. Priorities will change as we go on," said Grether who lives in Berlin and arrived in Bahrain after taking part in the Shanghai and Hong Kong Super Series. Her opponent in the semi-finals, the pencil thin Trupti Murgunde of India, is already wary of her next task. "I saw her play. She is very strong and in peak fitness," said the 24-year-old Indian No. 2 who is using this championship to test her body after a six-month layoff following a serious back injury. Murgunde, a Bahraini veteran having visited the Kingdom thrice before and a winner on one occasion, dropped the middle set before taming compatriot Ruth Misha 21-13, 14-21, 21-12. Before Murgunde could wrap up her match, Grether had long finished talking to the GDN and gone. "I had a problem with getting my length. I was not sure how I was hitting and it took some time to get it right," said Murgunde who is originally from Pune but is now settled in Bangalore. The other semi-final will be an all-India affair between youngsters Gayatri Vartak and Ashwini Ponnappa. The men's draw has been dominated by the Indonesian shuttlers and giant-killer Nugroho Andi Saputro continued his inspiring run sailing past India's Sidharth Saboo 21-14, 21-11. "I played my natural game which is to attack all the time," said the 21-year-old lean and tall Saputro who comes from the Djarum Badminton Academy near Jakarta like his three other compatriots here in Bahrain. "I will continue to play like this in the semi-finals and hopefully the final too. It's my natural game," added Saputro who takes on compatriot Bandar Sigit Pamungkas , the winner over India's Rohan Castelino 21-19, 14-21, 21-16 in his quarter-final. The lone Indian and Iranian in the fray take on each other in the other semi-final. India's Rajah Gurusai Manuri Venkata beat Engga Setiawan 21-16, 21-17 of Indonesia while Iran's Kheradmandi Mohammed Reza (Iran) disposed off the last seeded player in the fray Andreas Adityawarman, the seventh seed from Indonesia, 21-15, 21-16.
It's Gepeng vs Guru in the Final tonight! Venkata take on Saputro in final By PATRICK SALOMON FAN favourite Gurusai Rajah Manuri Venkata of India set up a final clash with Nugroho Andi Saputro of Indonesia in the men's singles division of the Bahrain Air-Bahrain International Badminton Challenge last night at the Indian Club. Venkata used the vibrant support of a capacity crowd to claim a 21-15, 21-17 victory over Iran's Mohammed Reza Kheradmandi in one semi-final bout; while Saputro came back from an early deficit to outlast compatriot Bandar Sigit Pamungkas in three games 18-21, 21-19, 21-17. The title-decider will take place tonight, starting at around 6.30pm at the same venue. "It was a good match; my opponent played very well and he had a very good smash," Venkata told the GDN. "I had to focus really hard and it was neck and neck for a while, but then he started to commit some errors and I started to play my strokes. "At the end of the second game, I thought I had to attack and it worked to my advantage. I'm now looking forward to the final, and I think I definitely have a good chance to win." Venkata and Saputro had gone head to head once before, in a match the Indonesian won in three games. Saputro is confident he can repeat the result and take home the Bahrain title. "I'm confident," he said. "I'm enjoying the tournament and I'm just playing my normal game. I have a good chance to become the champion. Having beaten him before, I hope to win again tomorrow the same way." Venkata countered: "I think I have a good chance, but I have to produce well on the court and focus and prepare." Meanwhile, Indians Ashwini Ponnappa and Trupti Murgunde will meet in the women's finals, also set for today. Ashwini beat compatriot Gayatri Vartak 22-20, 21-19; while Trupti overcame a tough challenge against Germany's Nicole Grether 21-14, 20-22, 21-12. The match is set to begin at around 7.15pm. Grether's loss ended her hopes of winning two categories in the same tournament, as she is still in line to claim the women's doubles title with Canadian teammate Charmaine Reid. The pair advanced to the division final with a 21-13, 21-13 victory over Ashwini and her partner Nitya Sosale. They are set to meet India's Aparna Balan and Sampada Sahasrabuddhe, who were 21-19, 21-10 winners against Iranians Negit Amiripour and Shahar Zamanian Nejat. Meanwhile, Aparna and Arun Vishnu will face Trupti and V Diju in the mixed doubles final. Aparna and Vishnu won 21-12, 21-7 against Kristi Das and Anirban Chetia, while Trupti and Diju beat Abantika Deka and Dibyajyothi Borah 21-19, 21-15. In the men's doubles, the title will be decided between Iranian top seeds Kheradmandi and Ali Shahhosseini and Indian duo Ashkay Dewalkar and Jishnu Sanyal. Kheradmandi and Shahhosseini outlasted Diju and Ram Vijay 13-21, 21-19, 21-11 while Sanyal and Dewalkar overcame Jayan James and Konnullil Sebastian 21-15, 21-11. Tonight's final matches will be followed by the awarding ceremony.
Gurusaidutt beat Andi Nugroho Saputro to clinch the title at the Bahrain Int Challenge 2008 Gurusai bags men's crown By PATRICK SALOMON GURUSAI Venkata Rajah and Trupti Murgunde led a rampant Indian contingent last night that won four of the five competition categories in the Bahrain Air-Bahrain International Badminton Challenge at the Indian Club. Gurusai clinched the men's singles title after defeating Indonesia's Nugroho Saputro in a tightly contested final, while Trupti came away with the women's singles crown after outplaying compatriot Ashwini Ponnappa. Meanwhile, fellow Indians Akshay Dewalkar and Jishnu Sanyal claimed the men's doubles title, and Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan took the mixed doubles victory. Canada's Charmaine Reid and Germany's Nicole Grether were the only non-Indian champions of the tournament. They won the women's doubles. Gurusai's victory earned him his first-ever senior international title in only his third attempt. The 18-year-old overcame the loss of three match points in the second game to secure the winner's trophy 21-13, 22-20. "It was great playing here and I'm very happy to have won," Gurusai told the GDN. "I think I played my best badminton today, although I had to wake myself up and be more aggressive when it went to 20-all in the second game. The crowd helped me deal with the pressure, and it actually felt a lot like playing at home. "This win will give me more confidence for my upcoming tournaments, and I think I should be aiming now to compete in higher grade competitions. I need to get a good ranking; I'm aiming to be among the world's top 100." In the women's final, Trupti was in unstoppable form and she convincingly took a 21-16, 21-13 result. She clinched her second title in Bahrain after also winning in her first participation here a few years back. She also bettered her runner-up finish from last year, and sealed a successful return from back injury that kept her sidelined for six months earlier this year. "Coming back from injury, I came here with not much hope. I told myself it would just be a trial, but it's turned out to be a really good tournament for me," Trupti said. "I really enjoy the support I get here. Bahrain has been quite lucky for me, and I hope to come back next time and maybe win again." In the doubles events, Dewalkar and Sanyal came back from a game behind to win the men's division 14-21, 21-18, 21-11 against Iranian pair Ali Shahhosseini and Mohammed Kheradmandi. On the distaff, Reid and Grether brushed off a slow start to defeat Indian opponents Aparna and Sampada Sahasrabuddhe. They went down 3-10 early in the first game, but fought back well and finally took the well-deserved triumph 21-16, 21-13. Their win capped an impressive debut in the kingdom, and ended their season in world doubles events on a high. "We came here mainly to win this doubles division, and we're really pleased that we were able to do it, although we had to work hard to get here," said Reid. "It's a great way to end the year and hopefully we will be in the top 20 with our world ranking points by next week." Commented Grether of the division final: "We played well; we knew we had to attack and keep up the speed since it's a little bit slower here with the shuttles and the humidity. But we stayed focused, and even though we won only two matches to get to the title, it was tough and every opponent was hard to beat." In the mixed doubles, Aparna and partner Vishnu defeated countrymen Trupti and Diju Valiyaveetil in an exciting three-game affair 17-21, 21-18, 21-19. The victors had a comfortable lead midway through the third game, but gave it up to their opponents late on. However, they managed to hold their nerves in the end and finally secure the win on a pair of crucial errors that cost their rivals the match. Following last night's play, the winners and runners-up were presented their respective trophies in a special closing and awarding ceremony. Handing out the awards were Bahrain Air managing director Ebrahim Al Hamer, Arab Badminton Federation president Zaki Al Tamimi, Bahrain Badminton and Squash Federation (BBSF) vice-president Abdulaziz Al Muraikhi, BBSF secretary general Suhail Hameed Ismail, Mega Mart/Babasons managing director Raju Waghnani, Bahrain Air commercial operations director Mohammed Saleh Fakhri, Bahrain Air country manager Saeed Ahmed, and other guests and Indian Club officials. The tournament was organised by the Indian Club in association with the BBSF. Entries for all categories were received and scrutinized by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and Badminton Asia Confederation (BAC). A total prize purse of $15,000 was shared among the winners. Tournament sponsors: Bahrain Air, Babasons and Megamart, Devika International, Eastern Ready Mix, Al Hamad Construction, IPS Trade Middle East, ITL Tourism and Travel, Bader Trading and Contracting, MH Al Mahroos, Orange Graphics. Medical assistance: KIMS Bahrain
