In the 2015 Russian Open Grand Prix Badminton tournament at Vladivostok, many Indian shuttlers in different categories have advanced to the quarterfinals after the conclusions of Thursday’s second round matches. In men’s singles, no.3 seed Ajay Jayaram defeated Russia’s Anatoly Yartsev to enter the quarterfinals and among women, India’s Tanvi Lad caused a major upset by beating Bulgaria’s no. 2 seed Linda Zetchiri in three games. India’s men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy struck a double pot of luck with walkovers in second round and quarterfinals as their opponents didn’t turn up and the pair is already in the semifinals. India also entered the mixed doubles quarterfinals, when the pair of Akshay Dewalkar and Prajakta Sawant defeated the Egyptians Abdelrahman Kashkal and Hadia Hosny.
Third seeded Ajay Jayaram played two matches on July 23, 2015. In the morning, the Indian played Slovakia’s Jarolim Vicen in the second round and humbled his opponent 21-18, 21-9 in just 27 minutes. Vicen put up a semblance of resistance in the first game but couldn’t stand up to the charged up Indian in the second. Later in the evening, Jayaram ensured entry to the quarterfinals, when he met Anatoly Yartsev of Russia in his second round match. In another forceful performance, Jayaram didn’t allow the Russian much leeway in a 32-minutes match that ended at 21-18, 21-13 in the Indian’s favor. For a place in the semifinal, Ajay Jayaram will take on Malaysia’s no.5 seed Wei Feng Chong, who reached the QF after beating Japanese qualifier Kento Horiuchi 21-15, 21-19.
In women’s draw, India’s Tanvi Lad also entered the quarterfinals by causing a major upset. In a second round match, Tanvi overpowered tournament’s second seeded player Linda Zetchiri of Bulgaria. The Indian began by making too many errors before losing the first game 15-21 but bounced back brilliantly in the second. She took the second game at 21-7 and continued the momentum into the third to finish the winner at 15-21, 21-7, 21-12 in a 54-minute match. Earlier on Wednesday too, Tanvi had a hard time against Russia’s Victoria Slobodjanuk in the first round match, where she began by losing the first game to the Russian. But she collected herself and finally won the match 13-21, 21-18, 21-19. Tanvi’s quarterfinal opponent on Friday will be Russia’s Evgeniya Kosetskaya, who defeated USA’s no.5 seed Rong Schafer 21-17, 21-13.
Fortune favored India’s men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy. Attri/Reddy won their first round match on Wednesday without any hassles against Malaysia’s Zulfaiz Bin Zulkiffli and Zulhelmi Zulkiffli 21-11, 21-15. Then the lady luck smiled twice on the Indian pair as they benefitted from double walkovers since their second-round and QF opponents failed to turn up. With victory in just one match, Attri and Reddy find themselves in the Russian Open semifinals.
India’s good fortune continued in the mixed doubles with the pair of Akshay Dewalkar and Prajakta Sawant reaching the quarterfinals. After scoring a convincing 21-16, 21-16 first round victory over Russia’s Rodion Kargaev and Ekaterina Bolotova on Wednesday, the Indian duo thundered past Abdelrahman Kashkal and Hadia Hosny of Egypt 21-11, 21-14 in just 19 minutes in the second-round. For a place in the semifinals, the Indians will have to beat the fourth seeded French pair of Ronan Labar and Emilie Lefel.
