Skycity New Zealand Open: Mixed bag for Indian shuttlers; 4th seed Gurusaidutt crashes out

FILE PHOTO: RMV Gurusaidutt

Indian shuttlers had a mixed bag of results at the Skycity New Zealand Badminton Open being played at the North Shore Events Centre in Auckland.

There was disappointment for the Indian camp as fourth seed and main hope RMV Gurusaidutt fell by the wayside in the second round to Malaysia’s Beryno Jiann Tze 18-21, 21-13, 19-21 in an intensely fought match.

Gurusaidutt, who took a game off world number one Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the third round of the Yonex Australian Open before running out of steam a week back, began on a sloppy note, trailing 1-3.

The 178th ranked Malaysian made the most of the strong start, conquering the rallies as well as coming up with nifty net play, firing as many as seven winners to gain a handy lead.

Gurusaidutt kept pace with him and showed signs of taking the opening game to the distance but Beryno played the closing points well to wrap it up at 21-18.

Trailing by a game, the Indian roared back, pushing the Malaysian on the back foot. Gurusaidutt looked more assured at the net, unsettling Beryno with his deception.

The third seeded Indian at one juncture won five points on the trot to gain the upper hand. The Malaysian was not allowed to play his natural game as Gurusaidutt rattled up points consistently to restore parity, pocketing the second game at 21-13.

The decider was an absorbing tussle as both players went for the jugular. But it was Beryno who wrested the initiative and picked up the crucial points to nose ahead.

Although the 36th ranked Indian fought hard to stay in the contest, the Malaysian held his nerves to bag the final game at 21-19 in a match that lasted 57 minutes.

Gurusaidutt’s loss came on the back of two defeats for the likes of Anand Pawar and old warhorse Chetan Anand.

Fifth seed Anand Pawar went down 16-21, 14-21 to 113th ranked Wan Chia-Hsin of Chinese Taipei.

Fourteenth seed Chetan Anand started on a bright note against the 168th ranked Parinyawat Thongnuam of Thailand, winning the opening game at 21-17 before losing his way to lose 17-21, 12-21.

In the women’s singles, India’s 125th ranked Sarada Jasti lost to local girl Vicki Copeland 21-18, 17-21,17-21.

However, third seed Ajay Jayaram and thirteen seed Arvind Bhat reached the third round. Jayaram pipped Norway’s Marius Myhre 24-22, 21-5, while Arvind slugged out fellow Indian Kirtesh Dhindhwal 21-16 21-12.

Jayaram next locks horns with 12th seed Hong Ji Hoon of Korea, while Bhat meets sixth seed and world number 46 Andre Kurniawan Tedjono of Indonesia.