Kiran outlasts Malaysian Chong; Manjit-Dingko duo make it to the second round
Results:
– Men Singles: Kiran George bt Chong King Ling 24-22, 21-16; Aman Farogh Sanjay lost to KaronoKarono (INA) 16-21, 21-16, 17-21.
– Women Singles: Dipti Kuttybt Aisha Zhumabek (Kaz) 21-18, 21-13; MedhaShashidharanbtIyaGordeyeva(Kaz) 21-9, 21-10; Kavipriya Selvam bt Seng Jar Nan (MMR) 21-5, 21-8.
– Women Doubles: Nafeesah Sara Siraj/MedhaShashidaran lost to Guo Lizhi/Yijing Li (CHN) 9-21, 18-21.
– Mixed Doubles: Srikrishna Sai Kumar/Srishti Jupudi lost to Muhammad Juan Elgiffani/Windi Siti Mulyani (INA) 21-17, 13-21, 15-21; OrijitChaliha/PreerthiKonadam lost to Lin Yu Chieh/Cheng Yu Pei 15-21, 18-21; Edwin Joy/Nafeesah S. Sriraj lost to Wu Guan Xun/Teng Chun Hsun17-21, 13-21.
– Men Doubles: Manjit Singh/Dingku Singh btMhod. C Chaniago/H.A. Hanifa (INA) 22-20, 23-21.
From our Correspondent
New Delhi, July 18,
It was a mixed bag for the Indians in individual events at Badminton Asia Junior Championships on the opening day at Jakarta yesterday.
After surviving the first game, the 16th seeded Kiran George kept his date with destiny in men singles to outlast Malaysian Chong King Ling 24-22, 21-16 and cash in his teammates’ wonderful day in women singles.
But a little before Aman Farogh Sanjay lost his first-round to tenth seed Indonesian, KaronoKarono 16-21, 21-16, 17-21 after a good fight.
Kiran met a fine match in the unseeded Malaysian who kept challenging the superiority of India No. 3. But Kiran responded well and despite losing two match points won on the third to go confident in his next. Kiran kept a tight leash on Chong and made fewer mistakes which paid dividends in the end for the seeded Indian.
Earlier, Dipti Kutty, MedhaShashidharan and Kavipriya Selvam found easy opponents in their women singles matches to move into the next round even as the Manipuri duo of Manjit Singh Khwairakpam and Dingku Singh Konthoujam did themselves proud to hang on by a thin thread to live another day in men doubles.
India No. 7 Dipti provided India some cheers after the two successive losses—Srikrishna Sai and Srishti Jupudi and OrijitChaliha and Preethi lost in Mixed Doubles—in women singles as she prevailed over Kazakh counterpart Aisha Zhumabek 21-18, 21-13. Brushing aside her early problems, the girl form Kutch in Gujarat stopped the Kazakh three points short in the first set and went on to win the second rather easily.
This win was followed up nicely by MedhaShashidharan who accounted for IyaGordeyeva, also from Kazakhstan, with utmost ease (21-9, 21-10) and then Kavipriya Selvam who put it across Myanmar’s Seng Jar Nan 21-5, 21-8.
But what overshadowed other Indian wins was the men doubles match in which the two Manipuri boys—Manjit Singh and Dingku Singh—put up a wonderful resistance to overcome their Indonesian rivals Muhammad C. Chaniago and Helmi Abu Hanifa 22-20, 23-21.
No doubt, the match was over in 34 minutes but credit must be given to the Indian pair which came back nicely in the first game in their race to 21 points. But when the Indonesians deuced at 20-all, it was a touch-and-go affair for the Indian duo who held on to their nerves to claim the next two points.
Indonesians, tossing up well with deep serves and indulging in long rallies, kept the Indians on their toes in the next game as well which saw a couple of deuces and after saving a game point, Manjit and Dingku smashed the winner, much to their jubilation.
Later tonight, sixth seeded Indian Lakshya Sen is to take on Korean Hyeong Jung Kim in their first-round battle while PriyanshuRajawat will meet Sri Lankan Vikum Fernando.
