Fearing BAI action, top shuttlers rush to Goa, lose
Panaji: Defending champion and women's top seed, Aakarshi Kashyap, sat mulling over her loss against rival Anupama Upadhyaya at the Shyama Prasad Mukh. Defending champion and women's top seed, Aakarshi Kashyap, lost to Anupama Upadhyaya at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium, Taleigao, despite a better schedule for her defending gold medal. She was competing in the Denmark Open, where PV Sindhu made it to the semifinals, and lost in the second round. The Badminton Association of India (BAI) forced players to participate in the National Games, threatening to suspend their entry for an international tournament for six months if they fail. Raghu Mariswamy was playing his semifinal against Mads Christophersen at the Abu Dhabi Masters, and Kiran George (Kerala) also lost in other semifinals in Abu Dhabi. Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker have reached the women's doubles final, beating second seed Arulbala R and Varshini V.S. of Tamil Nadu.
Published : 2 years ago by Paresh Mokani in
Defending champion and women's top seed, Aakarshi Kashyap , sat mulling over her loss against rival Anupama Upadhyaya at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium, Taleigao , on Monday.The Chhattisgarh shuttler lost to her fierce rival in straight sets 13-21, 17-21, but if the schedule was kinder, she may have had a better chance of defending her gold medal.The 22-year-old was participating in the Denmark Open, where PV Sindhu made it to the semifinals, and lost in the second round with National Games being a major distraction."I had to be here. I travelled from Odense to Copenhagen for three hours, took a flight to Istanbul, from there made a journey to Mumbai and arrived here on Sunday. I had to be here," said an exhausted Aakarshi, who defeated Goa’s Anura Prabhudesai and Shruti Mundada in the previous rounds.According to a source, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) forced players into taking part at the National Games. If a player failed to participate, the governing body warned it would not send the player’s entry for an international tournament for six months."Raghu Mariswamy was playing his semifinal against Mads Christophersen at the Abu Dhabi Masters and his performance was definitely affected with the thought that he has to be in Goa and give a walk over, even if he reached the final (in Abu Dhabi). I told him that we would see what happens, but it is easier said than done," said Raghu's coach, Jagdish Yadav.Raghu travelled for 12 hours and reached Goa on Sunday morning at 8. He was on the court at noon. The result was expected; he lost against Sourabh Verma in straight games.Top seed Kiran George (Kerala) also met a similar fate as he lost in the other semifinals in Abu Dhabi. In Goa, he went down fighting against Jagadeesh K of Andhra Pradesh.For Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker, it was a day to remember as the young pair booked their place in the women's doubles final. They knocked out second seed Arulbala R and Varshini V.S. of Tamil Nadu 21-16, 21-16.They now face a daunting task against top seeds Shikha Gautam and Ashwini Bhat of Karnataka against whom they have never won in three meetings. Shikha-Ashwini overcame Kavya Gupta and Deepshikha Singh of Delhi 21-18, 24-22.
Topics: India