Chetan, Sayali lose in Hungarian Open semifinals

SENDAI, JAPAN – APRIL 29: Chetan Anand of India in action during the men’s singles match against Bjoern Joppien of Germany at the YONEX Thomas & Uber Cup Japan 2006 World Team Championships at Sendai Gymnasium, Day 2 on April 29, 2006 in Sendai, Japan.

India’s Chetan Anand bowed out of the 37th Yonex Hungarian International Badminton Championship, losing to top seed Vladimir Malkov of Russia 13-21,21-19,19-21 in an absorbing semifinal match in Budapest.

The 165th ranked Indian went down tamely in the opening game before founding his bearings to win the second game at 21-19.

The decider was keenly fought with both players giving nothing away before the Russian world number 72 had the last laugh.

Earlier in the day, Chetan stunned fourth seed and world number 105 Luka Wraber of Austria in straight games 21-13, 21-16 in just 27 minutes.

In the women’s singles, Sayali Gokhale crashed out in the semifinals to fourth seed Olga Golavanova of Russia 12-21, 20-22.

The 175th ranked Indian surrendered meekly in the opening game losing it at 12-21 before staging a remarkable comeback in the second game before the Russian scraped through 22-20.

Like Chetan, Sayali earlier in the day ousted world number 283 and local girl Laura Sarosi 21-17, 21-16 in 39 minutes in a quarterfinal match.