Mauritius and South Africa Share Spoils - African Continental Championships 2015

In a historic performance, Mauritius clinched their first Continental Team Championship in 15 years, wresting the collective crown 3-2 from title-holders, South Africa, in a tense finale. Having already upset Nigeria 3-0 in the semi-finals, the Mauritians came from behind to thwart South Africa’s repeat bid, winning the last two ties – Women’s Singles and Women’s Doubles – to spark joyous celebrations in their camp.The likes of Kate Foo Kune, Yeldy Louison, Nicolas Chan Lam and Julien Paul produced the goods for their country in a classic showdown which closed the first half of the badminton competition for the 11th All-Africa Games 2015 in Republic of the Congo.The finals started with Mixed Doubles as South Africans Andries Malan/Jennifer Fry opposed Julien Paul/Kate Foo Kune. Arguably the underdogs, the younger Mauritian pair took the first game, thanks to a strong display by Paul. However, Malan and Fry struck back, 21-15 in the second game, to gain the ascendancy. Unfortunately for South Africa, Paul and Foo Kune showed greater composure and maturity to seal the final game, 21-17.

Next was Men’s Singles and current African champion, Jacob Maliekal of South Africa, wasted little time disposing of Christopher Paul. The Mauritian lost 21-10 21-9 in just 25 minutes.At that stage the overall tie was 1-1 and it then tipped in favour of the defending champions as Malan returned to partner Wiaan Viljoen in Men’s Doubles. Despite some promising early exchanges, there was no doubt South Africa would win as Malan/Viljoen brushed aside Mauritius’ young gun, Julien Paul and Atish Lubah, 21-14 and 21-11.The tide turned again here, with Mauritius fighting back valiantly - first through Nicki Chan Lam in Women’s Singles. She quickly downed Elme De Villiers, 21-10 and 21-9, to set up a grand climax to the team battle; the result depending on the outcome of the Women’s Doubles clash.It was left to Yeldy Louison and Kate Foo Kune of Mauritius or Jennifer Fry and Sandra Le Grange from South Africa.Who would prevail?Ultimately, it was Mauritius who triumphed with Louison and Foo Kune holding their nerves to win the first game 21-19 before cantering away with the second, 21-7.

Team Final - Result

South Africa, who could only watch as Mauritius savoured their success, rebounded smartly in the individual competition which followed at the Étienne-Monga gymnasium in Ouenzé. They swept to gold in Men’s Singles, Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles, with Malan notching double gold. In Mixed Doubles, he and Jennifer Fry overcame their elder team-mates Wiaan Viljoen and Michelle Emmet-Butler, 21-17 and 23-21. Malan also won a third consecutive Men’s Doubles title with Viljoen against El Khateeb and Kashkal of Egypt.

“We played the Egyptians in the Team Event and we knew it would not be easy as we had a tough match against them but eventually we pulled through,” said Malan.Meanwhile, Maliekal won an impressive fourth consecutive African title, beating his compatriot Prakash Vijayanath, 21-17 and 21-17, in the Men's Singles final.Kate Foo Kune continued her impressive form, retaining the Women’s Singles title versus Nigeria’s Grace Gabriel. Having won the African Championship last year in Botswana, the Mauritian was keen to continue her continental reign and did just that with a 21-16 21-19 triumph.“It’s always more pressure on you when you are defending your title as everybody expects you to win. I managed to keep my nerves and win the gold medal again. Unfortunately, in the Women’s Doubles, we could not retain our title as we made too many unforced errors,” noted Foo Kune, referring to the earlier doubles final in which she played.

In that Women’s Doubles showdown, Seychellois duo Julliette Ah Wan and Alissen Camille(above) avenged last year’s defeat against Foo Kune and Louison. Ah Wan and Camille emerged champions, 22-20 18- 21 and 21-14.

Individual Finals - Results

Ajay Jayaram Loses 14-21, 13-21 to World No. 1 Chen Long in Korea Open Final

Seoul: A fairytale ending eluded him as Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram's rampaging run was brought to a halt by defending champion and World No. 1 Chen Long of China in the final of the USD 600,000 Korea Open Super Series event here on Sunday.

After producing a giant-killing run to earn a maiden Super Series final appearance, Jayaram failed to breach the Chinese wall as his fight ended with a 14-21 13-21 loss to the current world champion Long in a 40-minute men's singles final.

En route to the summit showdown, Jayaram punched above his weight, stunning the likes of World No. 6 Dane Viktor Axelsen, Japan's Sho Sasaki and Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen to set up a title clash with Long, an opponent he had lost to at the Hong Kong Open last year.

Jayaram, who is coached by Tom John in Bangalore, could not produce the same skill and tenacity that took him to the finals as he succumbed to a series of unforced errors to go down in his toughest test in the tournament and end runner up.

Jayaram started with a smash but stumbled on a series of errors to lose points. Long was equally erratic in the beginning as both led 4-4 early on in the opening game. Long, however, quickly regrouped and started dominating proceedings as his smashes got sharper and he thrived on the Indian's error to lead 9-5.

Jayaram showed occasional sparks of brilliance and left Long completely stranded with a deceptive jump shot at 7-9 and with that clawed back at 9-9. However, Long produced two powerful smashes to go into the break with a two-point advantage.

After a talk with chief coach Pullela Gopichand, Jayaram came up with a cross court smash but hit long next. The Chinese jumped and smashed in every opportunity he got, while Jayaram looked to accumulate point with some sharp deception.

JAYARAM IN MAIDEN SUPERSERIES FINAL – VICTOR KOREA OPEN 2015 DAY 5

Ajay Jayaram’s sensational run at the Victor Korea Open 2015 continued as he made the Men’s Singles final against Chen Long today.

The Indian, an underdog from the very first round – where he upset Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen – made his first World Superseries final beating Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen 21-19 21-15.

Korea had a near-perfect semi-finals day, ensuring a strong presence for tomorrow’s finals.

The home team assured themselves of the Men’s Doubles gold medal, besides having representatives in two other finals. China also stayed in the hunt for three titles despite losses in Women’s Doubles and Men’s Doubles.

Sung Ji Hyun (Women’s Singles) and Chang Ye Na/Lee So Hee (Women’s Doubles) will be in action tomorrow against Wang Yihan (China;below) and Greysia Polii/Nitya Krishinda Maheswari (Indonesia) respectively. The Mixed Doubles final will feature Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir (Indonesia) against familiar foes Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei (China).

Of all the finalists, Jayaram (right), world No.30, was possibly least expected to remain on Sunday contesting for the Men’s Singles title. Yet, the Indian had shown skill and tenacity in taking down opponents ranked higher than himself. Against Chou Tien Chen he continued with his careful style, keeping a tight rein on the shuttle and opening up with judicious shots that found the lines. Chou had a brief lead in the second but Jayaram then drew him into a net game at which he outplayed his opponent time and again. Denied the length to use his smashes, Chou withered even as Jayaram grew in confidence.

“I think it’s a matter of confidence; it’s a culmination of all the hard work I’ve put in over the years,” said Jayaram, who needed six months off last year due to a shoulder injury. “I executed my strategy well. Recovering from the injury obviously made me tougher. It will be hard against Chen Long… I will think about what to do, maybe have a word with (teammate) Kashyap as well, since he has beaten him twice.”

Earlier, defending champion Chen kept his date for a fourth Superseries title this year with a comfortable 21-9 21-13 result over Japan’s Kento Momota.

Another surprise of the day was in the second Men’s Doubles match, when home pair Kim Gi Jung and Kim Sa Rang (featured image) upset No.4 seeds Zhang Nan/Fu Haifeng (China), 12-21 21-18 21-17, to book a final against compatriots Lee Yong Dae and Yoo Yeon Seong.

Lee and Yoo had escaped out of the clutches of Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen in a 100-minute thriller, 23-25 22-20 21-17.

The Danes controlled the game through the early part, dominating the front court exchanges and preventing the Koreans from getting into the rallies. The Danes frequently caught out the Koreans at the far corners and avoided the lengthy rallies that Lee and Yoo revel in. It was only in the third, when Lee and Yoo were able to break free of those constraints that they found their rhythm – Yoo in full flight at the back and Lee making the interceptions at net.

“Our bodies felt a little heavy so it was a really difficult match to play,” said Lee. “Still, I’ve played a lot of difficult matches and I was able to think that if we keep at it, we could catch up and pass them and I think that was how we were able to win. I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

“Today, they didn’t play their usual style. They were more precise and I think they were trying to use the fact that the shuttles were slow. Yoo’s smash wasn’t coming down as fast as always so they didn’t give me as many opportunities to move in and take the net and kept the rallies to the back. This wasn’t the same as the other matches we’ve played against them but because we have consistently beaten them, we remained confident and that’s how we were able to win again this time.”

“I think this match was a lot more tiring than the others I’ve played against them,” added Yoo. “We had to keep hitting and moving and expending energy and that was tiring and we didn’t always keep it going. But we had to concentrate on staying light on our feet and keep moving so we could maintain the attack.”

Sung Ji Hyun prevailed in a Women’s Singles marathon over Akane Yamaguchi. With the third game turning into a battle of attrition between the purveyors of contrasting styles, the Japanese had the advantage as she was able to keep the rallies going. At one point, Yamaguchi pushed Sung into a 60-shot rally after which the Korean appeared to run out of ideas and retreated into a reactive game. After another long rally, Sung collapsed on the floor and got up wearily after a long time. Despite being pushed through the ordeal, Sung reverted to her attacking style late in the game. With a few quick points, the Korean was able to close it out: 21-15 15-21 21-18 in 69 minutes.

Her opponent will be defending champion Wang Yihan, who made her first World Superseries final after October last year by beating compatriot Wang Shixian 21-12 21-19.

Korea briefly entertained hopes of an upset in the Mixed Doubles when Ko Sung Hyun/Kim Ha Na took a game off defending champions Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei. However, the Chinese came back strongly and handed a mauling to the home pair in the third. Ko and Kim were left dazed as Zhao and Zhang rained winners on them: 21-15 12-21 21-10. In the other semi-final, Indonesia’s Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir (above) were untroubled by England’s Chris Adcock/Gabrielle Adcock, 21-9 21-15.

Polii and Maheswari won an 89-minute match against China’s Luo Ying/Luo Yu 21-18 17-21 21-13. They take on Chang Ye Na/Lee So Hee, who won an all-Korea semi-final over Jung Kyung Eun/Shin Seung Chan 21-14 21-13.

SON WAN HO POWERS PAST LIN DAN – VICTOR KOREA OPEN 2015 DAY 3

Son Wan Ho avenged last week’s loss to Lin Dan, coming up with a classy performance to enter the Men’s Singles quarter-finals at his home Victor Korea Open 2015 today.

It was a slightly uneven show from Lin, who played at a high level game in phases, but errors at key moments gave Son the opportunities he sought in the morning session match.

The first game was over in a flash with Lin struggling to control his lifts, but the second had some fascinating phases with Lin showing masterly control over the shuttle. Never using his smash, and relying only on placements, he dragged Son into long rallies which the Korean was unable to get on top of, despite playing a tight game of his own and not offering Lin much to work with. From 3-7, the Chinese went into the lead and Son struggled to keep up.

The game changer happened when Son broke free from the iron grip, extracting a lift with an unplayable net shot and smashing past Lin Dan’s stretched racket. Soon after, he returned a midcourt smash from Lin and the fight seemed to leave the Chinese. The 21-10 21-15 result will give Son a quarter-final appointment with top seed Chen Long, who dispatched compatriot Wang Zhengming with ease: 21-14 21-17.

In Women’s Singles, Yonex Open Japan winner Nozomi Okuhara fought past Korea’s Bae Yeon Ju 13-21 21-8 21-13, while top seed Tai Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipei) made it past teammate Hsu Ya Ching, 21-14 21-19.

The big surprise was in Men’s Doubles, with Singapore Open champions Angga Pratama/Ricky Karanda Suwardi falling in just 35 minutes to Korea’s Kim Gi Jung/Kim Sa Rang, 21-19 21-15. Third seeds Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen (Denmark) had little trouble against Indonesia’s Wahyu Nayaka Arya Pankaryanira/Ade Yusuf, 21-11 21-14.

JAYARAM’S BLITZ FLOORS AXELSEN – VICTOR KOREA OPEN 2015 DAY 2

A familiar pattern repeated itself in the opening round of the Men’s Singles at the Victor Korea Open 2015 with Viktor Axelsen falling by the wayside.

The Dane, runner-up at the Yonex Open Japan last week, fell prey to India’s Ajay Jayaram in the first round, the same stage at which he had faltered in the Indonesia Open after reaching the Australian Open final.

Jayaram (featured image) was in fine fettle, darting around the court and firing winners left, right and centre as a bewildered Axelsen struggled to contain the flow of points. The Indian’s wristwork did the damage at the front court, with Axelsen unable to anticipate his deft flicks. Adding to his misery, the Dane’s length was too short, allowing Jayaram to get under the shuttle and uncork some sizzling smashes. The Dane went down in under half-an-hour, 21-15 21-15.

“I think he had trouble with the drift,” said Jayaram. “Once I got the first game, I was able to play well from the other end too. My movement was key: I was moving well and getting under the shuttle. I was also able to catch him with a few strokes. I lost to him badly last week, so this feels good.”

Jayaram was the lone Indian left in Men’s Singles after compatriots HS Prannoy, Kashyap Parupalli and Kidambi Srikanth went down in three games, to Chou Tien Chen (Chinese Taipei), Wei Nan (Hong Kong; above) and Tian Houwei (China) respectively.

Chou’s compatriot Hsu Jen Hao won a long battle over Hong Kong’s Hu Yun, 21-16 15-21 22-20, in one of the closest matches of the day. Qualifier Ihsan Maulana Mustofa continued to impress at the World Superseries level, easing past Germany’s Marc Zwiebler 19-21 21-11 21-12.

In Women’s Singles, Nozomi Okuhara and PV Sindhu reversed their fortunes against opponents they hadn’t beaten previously, to stride into the second round.

Okuhara had been one of the players in the spotlight before the TOTAL BWF World Championships in August, but crashed out in the first round to Thailand’s Porntip Buranaprasertsuk. That was Okuhara’s third loss in three matches against the Thai; now, having won her home Yonex Open Japan last week, Okuhara found Buranaprasertsuk once more in her path in the first round. With a 15-13 lead in the third game, the Thai looked to be heading for a fourth win, but Okuhara did not yield and emerged winner in 53 minutes: 21-18 19-21 21-19.

Similarly, PV Sindhu had failed in three previous attempts to solve the Ratchanok Intanon puzzle. Today the Indian was up to the task, relying on an impeccable defence to repel the variety and craft of Intanon’s attack. Sindhu had five match points at 20-15 in the second; Intanon saved all five and took the match to a decider. Trailing 3-7 in the third, Sindhu’s mind went back to the second game and her missed opportunities.

“I was nervous at the start of the third; I kept thinking of the match points I’d missed,” said Sindhu. “Then I thought, if she can fight back, so can I.”

The Indian’s steely defence unravelled Intanon’s game and the Thai fired numerous smashes well wide. The 21-19 21-23 21-13 win gave Sindhu a second round date with Japan’s Sayaka Takahashi.

“Intanon has good strokes; she changes the pace suddenly, and she has a crosscourt flick with which she used to catch me earlier. Today I just returned all her strokes. There were a lot of long rallies and I just kept the shuttle in the court.”

Okuhara was accompanied into the second round by compatriots Takahashi, Akane Yamaguchi and qualifier Aya Ohori, who beat Indonesia’s Lindaweni Fanetri 21-16 22-20. All four Chinese – Sun Yu, Wang Shixian, Wang Yihan and Li Xuerui – also made it, with Wang Shixian being stretched to three games by Yui Hashimoto of Japan.

Korean qualifier Kim Na Young also made the second round, where she will face compatriot Sung Ji Hyun, a 21-18 21-9 winner over Japan’s Sayaka Sato. Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying and Hsu Ya Ching (top) were also among the winners.

World Championships Men’s Doubles silver medallists Liu Xiaolong/Qiu Zihan were blown away by Singapore Open champions Angga Pratama/Ricky Karanda Suwardi 21-14 21-12. The Indonesians didn’t put a foot wrong in the match, calmly returning their opponents’ best smashes and breaking their defence at will in a match that was expected to be closely fought.

The hardest battle of the category was fought between local hopefuls Ko Sung Hyun/Shin Baek Choel and Russia’s Vladimir Ivanov/Ivan Sozonov (above). The Russians stole the first game after staring at two game points; they nearly did the same in the second, equalling a three point deficit to make it 19-all. The Koreans had to save a match point before they equalled it at a game apiece and then cruised in the decider: 20-22 25-23 21-14.

Women’s Doubles will see the intriguing prospect of a third clash between China’s Ma Jin/Tang Yuanting and Tian Qing/Tang Jinhua (above). With a 1-1 head-to-head record, the third clash is expected to go down the wire.

China had a jolt today with Yonex Open Japan winner Zhong Qianxin, partnering Bao Yixin, fell to Korea’s Chae Yoo Jung/Kim So Yeong 15-21 21-17 21-18. Among others to make the second round were Netherlands’ Selena Piek/Eefje Muskens, 21-17 21-11 winners over Korea’s Kim Hye Rin/Kong Yee Hong.

In Mixed Doubles, qualifiers Kenta Kazuno/Ayane Kurihara (Japan; above) set up an interesting contest against top seeds Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei (China) by beating Korea’s Choi Solgyu/Eom Hye Won, 22-20 21-13. Thai veterans Sudket Prapakamol/Saralee Thoungthongkam were too crafty for Korea’s Chung Eui Seok/Kong Hee Yong, 21-10 12-21 21-15.

Tarun Kona and Sikki Reddy Lose in First Round of Korea Open Indian shuttlers go down in straight games to Chinese top seeds

Seoul, South Korea: Indian shuttlers Tarun Kona and N. Sikki Reddy lost their mixed doubles opener in straight games at the $600,000 Korea Open Superseries on Tuesday.

Chinese top seeds Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei took less than half an hour to beat Tarun and Sikki 21-11, 21-10 at the S.K. Handball Stadium.

Focus on Kidambi Srikanth, Parupalli Kashyap, PV Sindhu at Korea Open

Seoul: In the absence of World No. 1 Saina Nehwal, the focus will be on other top Indian shuttlers P.V. Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth and Parupalli Kashyap when the $600,000 Korea Open Superseries begins at the S.K. Handball Stadium here on Tuesday.

Along with 2015 World Championships women's singles runner-up Saina, 2011 Worlds bronze medal winning women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnapa will also skip the event as Jwala is not well. Hence, the pressure will be on double World bronze medallist Sindhu, men's singles fourth seed Srikanth and eighth seed Kashyap.

To make matters worse, World No.14 Sindhu, 20, has been drawn in the first round against former World Champion and current No.5 Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand. The 20-year-old Ratchanok has a 3-0 advantage in career meetings over Sindhu.

However, as compared to the Hyderabadi, Srikanth and Kashayp have got relatively easier openers. While World No.4 Srikanth will open his campaign against World No.11 Tian Houwei of China, World No.8 Kashyap will face World No.18 Wei Nan of Hong Kong.

World No.12 H.S. Prannoy will, however, face a tough opponent in seventh seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei. Chen has won the only match played against the 23-year-old Indian.

Ajay Jayaram will also face the stiff task of going past sixth seed Viktor Axelsen, even though the Indian has won the only match played against Dane.

Indian pair of Tarun Kona and N. Sikki Reddy will be up against top seeds Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei in mixed doubles. Sikki will also take part in women's doubles with Pradnya Gadre and they will open against Japanse pair of Mami Naito and Shizuka Matsuo in the first round.

Last year's runner-up and former No.1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia crashed to his earliest-ever loss in a World Superseries event, falling 21-19 21-19 to Korea's Heo Kwang Hee in the first round of Men's Singles qualifying at the Victor Korea Open today.

Parupalli Kashyap Knocked Out of Japan Open Badminton Parupalli Kashyap lost 14-21, 18-21 to Chinese Taipei's sixth-seeded Chou Tien Chen in the quarter-finals of the Japan Open.

Tokyo: India's campaign at the $275,000 Japan Open Superseries came to an end as world No.8 shuttler Parupalli Kashyap was knocked out in the men's singles quarter-final here on Friday.

The World No.8 lost 14-21, 18-21 to Chinese Taipei's sixth seed Chou Tien Chen in just 42 minutes at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.

Kashyap was the lone Indian who entered the quarter-finals after Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth and H.S. Prannoy and lost their respective second round matches here on Thursday.

With win over Kashyap, Chou Tien Chen levelled things up 2-2 in their career meetings.

Chen was the aggressor right from the start as the sixth seed gathered five consecutive points in the first game compared to Kashyaps's three. Among total 35 points played in the game, Chen grabbed 21 to go 1-0 up in the match in style.

The Indian came back strongly in the second game but his opponent from Chinese Taipei was too good for him.

With six consecutive points the sixth seed surged ahead into the semi-finals winning 21 points out of 39 played.

Chou Tien Chen will play the winner of the other last-eight clash between seventh seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark and unseeded Korean Lee Dong Keun.

Saina Nehwal Crashes out of Japan Open; Parupalli Kashyap Lone Indian in Fray

Saina Nehwal's campaign in the Japan Open badminton tournament came to an end when the world No. 1 lost to unseeded Japanese Minatsu Mitani 21-13, 21-16 in just 40 minutes in a second round match in Tokyo on Thursday. 

London Olympics quarterfinalist Parupalli Kashyap remained the only India in fray. In a men's singles second round match, unseeded Kashyap created an upset when he defeated third seed K. Srikanth 21-11, 21-19 to enter the last eight. Earlier, Korea's Lee Dong Keun defeated India's HS Prannoy 21-9, 21-16.

Unseeded Mitani, ranked 18 in the world, is on a giant-killing run, having beaten P.V.Sindhu in the opening round match on Wednesday. India's challenge in women's singles thus comes to an end. The fancied doubles team of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa had also lost on Wednesday.

Mitani was easily the better player on court on Thursday. In spite of playing a tight three-game match against Sindhu on Wednesday, Mitani looked stronger and fitter than Saina, who still leads 5-2 in head-to-heads.

The fancied Indian had beaten Thailand's unseeded Busanan Ongbumrungpan 21-14, 22-20 in the opening round. Saina had looked sketchy in both games with the Thai girl. On Thursday, Saina ran out of steam.

Parupalli Kashyap in action during Japan Open.

© AFP

Kashyap only Indian in fray

In an all-Indian Round 2 match clash, Kashyap defeated Srikanth in a contest that lasted 45 minutes. Kashyap won the first game in just 17 minutes. Before Srikanth could fathom what hit him, the game was over.

The second game was a thriller and one that Srikanth will regret losing. It went neck and neck till 5-5 when Srikanth broke free and took a seven point lead (17-10). But Kashyap clawed back steadily and showed steely nerves as Srikanth failed to convert the big points leading 19-15.

Kashyap won the second game in thrilling fashion (21-19) to clinch a quarterfinal encounter with Taipei's sixth-seeded Chou Tien Chen.

Japan Open: Saina Nehwal Advances, Parupalli Kashyap to Face Kidambi Srikanth

Tokyo: Top Indian singles shuttlers Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap, Kidambi Srikanth and H.S. Prannoy all progressed to the second round of their respective categories after notching up contrasting victories in their openers at the $275,000 Japan Open Superseries here on Wednesday.

Though second seed Saina progressed to the Round of 16, the possibility of facing compatriot PV Sindhu was gone as Sindhu lost her opening round match. Ajay Jayaram and B. Sai Praneeth went down in their men's singles first round matches at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.

Olympic bronze medallist Saina took off well as she had a clean 21-14, 22-20 victory in 42 minutes over Thai Busanan Ongbumrungpan. The World Championship silver medallist will next take on Minatsu Mitani of Japan, who accounted for the loss of Sindhu, beating the two-time World Championship bronze medallist 21-13, 17-21, 21-11 in exactly an hour.

World No.1 Saina has a 5-2 advantage in career meetings over the Japanese, having also won the previous two encounters, but Minatsu will have the home crowd rooting for her on Thursday.

Reigning Commonwealth Games champion Kashyap had a lucky break before his Japanese opponent Takuma Ueda retired when the Indian was leading 3-2. He will next take on friend and compatriot Srikanth for a place in the men's singles quarterfinals.

Third seed Srikanth, on the other hand, had an easy match against Scott Evans, beating the Irish 21-18, 21-15 in 34 minutes. In the only official match between the two Indians in the past, Kashyap came out on top in the final of the India Grand Prix Gold in January, beating Srikanth 23-21, 23-21.

Later, Prannoy beat Hong Kong's Wong Wing Ki Vincent 23-21, 22-20 in 49 minutes and will next face South Korean Lee Dong Keun in their first ever career meet. Lee progressed to Round 2 after beating Sai 23-21, 21-10 in 52 minutes.

Danish Seventh seed Viktor Axelsen also took care of Mumbai's Jayaram with a 21-10, 21-10 victory in less than half an hour.

Women's doubles specialists Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa also had to bite the dust but not before giving a tough fight to China's Zhao Yunlei and Zhong Qianxin. The eighth seeds won 22-20, 18-21, 21-13 in 54 minutes.

In the other women's doubles opener, Japanese top seeds Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi eased past Pradnya Gadre and N. Sikki Reddy 21-6, 21-17 in little more than half an hour.

Saina Nehwal, Jwala Gutta To Miss Korea Open Superseries

Seoul: Indian badminton aces Saina Nehwal and Jwala Gutta will be skipping the Korea Open Superseries to be held at the S.K. Handball Stadium here from September 15 to 20.

While women's singles World No.1 Saina did not enter the USD 600,000 tournament, Jwala will skip the event as she is unwell and she tweeted on her condition.

Earlier in the day, Olympic bronze medallist Saina advanced to Round 2 of the USD 275,000 Japan Open Superseries but Jwala and her women's doubles partner Ashwini Ponnappa were knocked out of the first round.

Jwala played the match against China's Zhao Yunlei and Zhong Qianxin despite being ill. Ashwini tweeted that Jwala had played well despite not being 100 percent.

With Jwala out, Ashwini too is automatically ruled out of the event to be held in the South Korean capital.

Meanwhile, Kidambi Srikanth and Parupalli Kashyap have been seeded fourth and eighth at next week's next. H.S. Prannoy and Ajay Jayaram will also take part in the men's singles category.

In the absence of Saina, P.V. Sindhu will be the only Indian in women's singles and she will start her campaign against former World Champion Ratchanok Intanon.

N. Sikki Reddy will partner Pradnya Gadre in women's doubles and will combine with Tarun Kona next week.

Japan Open: PV Sindhu, Jwala-Ashwini Knocked Out, Parupalli Kashyap Advances

Tokyo: Ace Indian shuttler Parupalli Kashyap advanced to the second round but Ajay Jayaram, PV Sindhu and women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa failed to cross the opening hurdle of the super series badminton tournament here on Wednesday. 

Commonwealth Games champion Kashyap, who turned 29 on Tuesday, was handed a win by Takuma Ueda after the Japanese shuttler retired midway at 3-2 in the opening game at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.

Two-time silver medallist at World Championship, Sindhu failed to break the defence of Minatsu Mitani as her fight ended with a 13-21 21-17 11-21 loss to the Japanese shuttler in women's singles competition.

Dutch Open winner Ajay also faltered at the first round, going down 10-21 10-21 to Denmark seventh seed Viktor Axelsen in another men's singles match.

Glasgow Commonwealth Games silver medallists, Jwala and Ashwini played out of their skin before going down 20-22 21-18 13-21 to eighth seeds Zhao Yunlei and Zhong Qianxin of China in a 54-minute match.

Another women's doubles pair of Pradnya Gadre and N Sikki Reddy also made an early exit as they lost 6-21 17-21 to top seeds Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi of Japan.

Pawar, Tarun-Sikki lose in qualifiers of Japan Open.Pawar suffered a 20-22 18-21 loss to Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan in men's singles, while local pair of Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino thrashed Tarun and Sikki 21-9 13-21 21-19 in another match.

 India had a disappointing start to their campaign at the Japan Super Series after men's singles player Anand Pawar and mixed doubles pair of Kona Tarun and N Sikki Reddy lost their respective matches in the qualifiers of the badminton tournament on Tuesday.

Pawar suffered a 20-22 18-21 loss to Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan in men's singles, while local pair of Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino thrashed Tarun and Sikki 21-9 13-21 21-19 in another match.

In a 50-minute thrilling match, Pawar was put on the back foot early on in the opening game as Kanta lead 13-6. The Indian did well to draw parity at 18-18 but the Japanese held his fort to earn the bragging rights.

In the second game, Pawar surged ahead to 7-3 but Kanta drew level soon before the Indian once again opened up a 15-12 lead. However, a four-point burst saw Kanta wrest control of the match and eventually shut the door on Pawar.

Top shuttlers Saina Nehwal, P V Sindhu, Parupalli Kashyap and Kidambi Srikanth will start their campaign on Wednesday.

Saina Nehwal Says Carolina Marin a Tough Rival, but Not Impossible to Beat

Bengaluru: World No. 1 shuttler Saina Nehwal on Friday said All England and World Champion Carolina Marin is a tough opponent blessed with better wrist work but the Spaniard is beatable and the Indian ace will look to get the better off her rival in Japan Super Series starting next week.

"Carolina is a tough opponent, but can be beaten. I beat her thrice before the All England tournament and lost twice to her. She is left-handed player and these are bestowed with better wrist work, she is one like that," Saina told PTI in an interview here.

Despite losing in the final of the World Championship to Carolina in straight games, Saina regained world Ni.1 crown from the Spaniard

"I tried my best to tackle her (Carolina) but over-enthusiasm played over me and I lost the last two battles to her," Saina said.

The Hyderabadi player said she would try her best to overcome her mistakes and would see that she tackles her opponent well, if she gets a chance to meet Carolina in coming tournaments starting with Japan Open.

Asked about her preparation for the Japan Open, Saina said, "I am fit and fine and putting my best efforts to learn more and more during training."

Asked about her niggle in the shoulder, Saina said it is fine.

Talking about her chances in Japan Open, Saina said, "Let us see I will take each opponent game by game. It is difficult to predict in the beginning."

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Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu are likely to meet in the second round of women's singles in the Japanese capital if they beat their opening round opponents.

Tokyo: #Badminton #JapanOpenSuperseries India's top two badminton stars -- Saina Nehwal and P.V. Sindhu -- are on a collision course at the $275,000 Japan Open Superseries to be held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium from September 8 to 13.

The two are likely to meet in the second round of women's singles in the Japanese capital if they beat their opening round opponents.

Double World Championship bronze medallist Sindhu, who is unseeded here, will open her campaign against Japan's Minatsu Mitani. Second seed Saina, who recently reached the final of the World Championships, will take on Thai Busanan Ongbumrungpan.

If both win, they will face each other for the second time in their career after the first meeting -- at the 2014 India Grand Prix Gold final -- was won by World No.1 Saina in straight games.

In men's singles, the only Indian to be seeded is Kidambi Srikanth at No.3. He will open against Scott Evans of Ireland.

Reigning Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap will take on local boy Takuma Ueda, Ajay Jayaram will face a tough test against Danish seventh seed Viktor Axelsen while H.S. Prannoy will be pitted against Wong Wing Ki Vincent of Hong Kong.

Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa have a difficult task ahead as they have drawn Chinese women's doubles eighth seeds Zhao Yunlei and Zhong Qianxin. Pradnya Gadre and N. Sikki Reddy face Japanese top seeds Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi in the opener.

Verma lost 15-21 22-24 against his World No. 24 Korean opponent Lee Hyun-il in a men's singles quarterfinal match, which lasted 42 minutes.

Ho Chi Minh City:India's campaign came to an end at the USD 50,000 Vietnam Open Grand Prix badminton tournament on Friday after Sameer Verma went down to second seed South Korean shuttler Lee Hyun-il in straight games here.

Unseeded Verma lost 15-21 22-24 against his World No. 24 Korean opponent in a men's singles quarterfinal match, which lasted 42 minutes.

Verma was the lone Indian left in the fray after the big names of Indian badminton -- Ajay Jayaram, B Sai Praneeth and R M V Gurusaidutt -- lost their respective men's singles second round matches earlier to crash out of the tournament.

Sameer Verma in Quarterfinals of Vietnam Open Grand Prix Badminton

Ho Chi Minh City: #VietnamOpenSameer Verma overcome Shreyansh Jaiswal to advance to the men's singles quarterfinals but the Indian mixed pair of Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan lost at the USD 50,000 Vietnam Open Grand Prix badminton here on Thursday.

It was also curtains for the men's doubles duo of Akshay Dewalkar and Pranaav Jerry Chopra, who meekly surrendered 21-12 21-14 in just 35 minutes, to Kaixiang Huang and Sijie Wang of China.

Verma upstaged Jaiswal 20-22, 26-24, 21-17 after battling it out for one hour and eight minutes.

The pairing Vishnu and Balan lost to Indonesian duo of Alfian Eko Prasetya and Annisa Saufika 9-21 20-22 in just half an hour.

On Wednesday, big names of India badminton -- Ajay Jayaram, B Sai Praneeth and R M V Gurusaidutt -- lost in their respective men's singles second round matches to bow out of the tournament