Praneeth, Sameer lose; Arundhati, Neha make main draw

Indian men`s shuttlers wasted match points to bow out but their female counterparts notched up contrasting victories to reach the main draw of the India Open Super Series.

New Delhi: Indian men`s shuttlers Sai Praneeth and Sameer Verma wasted match points to bow out but their female counterparts Arundhati Pantawane and Neha Pandit notched up contrasting victories to reach the main draw of the Yonex Sunrise India Open Super Series here on Tuesday.

National Games champion Arundhati saw off Sabrina Jaquet of Switzerland 19-21, 21-13, 21-18 to set up a clash against fourth seed Chinese Yanjiao Jiang in the main draw of the women`s singles on Wednesday at the Siri Fort Sports Complex. The Nagpur girl didn`t have to play the first qualifying round after her opponent Jing Yi Tee of Malaysia was promoted to the main draw. Pune girl Neha also reached the main draw after beating fellow Indian Mohita Sahdev 21-17, 22-24, 21-14. She had defeated Trupti Murgunde after the latter retired mid-way at 11-21, 2-11. However, it turned out to be a disappointing day for the men`s singles players as all of them fell by the wayside after suffering contrasting defeats. Praneeth, who had beaten Srikanth K 21-12, 21-18 in the first qualifying round, suffered a 21-19, 19-21, 21-23 loss to Suppanyu Avihingsanon of Thailand. The Indian got ample chance to pocket the match after reaching the match point but he squandered it all as the Thai shuttler clinched the issue with a smash in the end. Sameer was no better as the Indian too had a bright chance of making the cut but wasted match points in the second game and suffered a 21-17, 23-25, 14-21 defeat to Vladimir Ivanov of Russia. He had beaten Russian Ivan Sozonov 21-16 21-9 in the first round. Among other prominent Indian players who failed to cross the first qualifying hurdle were Anand pawar, Anup Sridhar and HS Prannoy in the men`s singles. In the women`s singles, PC Thulasi, Sayali Gokhale, Tanvi Lad and Mohita Sahedev failed to reach the main draw. Results (Qualifying second round): Men`s singles: Vladimir Ivanov (Rus) bt Sameer Verma (IND) 17-21, 25-23, 21-14; Suppanyu Avihingsanon (THA) bt B Sai Praneeth 19-21, 21-19, 23-21, Yong Zhao Ashton Chen (Sin) bt C Rohit Yadav (IND) 21-13, 21-13, Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (THA) bt Anand Pawar (IND) 21-12, 21-14. Women`s singles: Neha Pandit (IND) bt Mohita Sahdev (IND) 21-17, 22-24, 21-14; Arundhati Pantawane (IND) bt Sabrina Jaquet (SUI) 19-21, 21-13, 21-18; Xiao Jia Chen (CHN) bt Lianne Tan 21-18, 21-9; Nichaon Jindapon (THA) bt Elizabeth Cann(ENG) 21-11, 21-11. PTI