India Open: Veterans Anand, Bhat qualify for main draw

New Delhi, April 23 (IANS) Former national champions Chetan Anand and Arvind Bhat moved into the main draw of the $200,000 India Open Super Series after beating their respective opponents in the men's singles qualification rounds at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here Tuesday.

Anand saw off challenges from compatriots Abhimanyu Singh and Sameer Verma in the first and the second qualifying rounds. Anand won the first match 21-17, 21-12 and the second 22-20, 11-21, 21-13.

Bhat thrashed Pisit Poodchalat of Thailand 22-20, 21-19 before winning a hard-fought battle against compatriot Aditya Prakash 20-22, 21-14, 21-18 in the final qualifying round.

Meanwhile, another former national champion Anup Sridhar could not make it to the main round after he lost his second qualifying match to H.S. Prannoy of Kerala.

Sridhar dished out a dominating performance against Mohit Kamat 21-11, 21-12 but lost to Prannoy 17-21, 14-21. Prannoy did not have to sweat it out much in the first match as his opponent and compatriot Vikas Harsha conceded the match with the score reading 21-9, 1-0.

Among other Indians, Subhankar Dey qualified for the main draw after he beat Rohit Yadav and Oscar Bansal in the qualifiers.

Among the women, former national champion Trupti Murgunde, Rituparna Das, Saili Rane all cruised into the main draw. Murgunde beat Riya Pillai and Anastasia Chervaykova of Russia 21-14, 8-21, 21-18 and 21-19, 21-19, respectively.

Qualification results: First round:

Men's singles: Oscar Bansal (IND) bt Joachim Persson (DEN) w.o., Arvind Bhat (IND) bt Poodchalat Pisit (THA) 22-20, 21-19,A Sameer Verma (IND) bt Mayank Behal (IND) 15-21, 21-8, 21-14, Chetan Anand (IND) bt Abhimanyu Singh (IND) 21-17, 21-12, Subhankar Dey (IND) bt C. Rohit Yadav (IND) 19-21, 21-18, 21-13, Aditya Prakash (IND) bt Prakash Jolly (IND) 21-11 Ret., H. S. Prannoy (IND) bt P. Vikas Harsha (IND) 21-9, 1-0 Ret., Anup Sridhar (IND) bt Mohit Kamat (IND) 21-11, 21-12

Men's doubles: D. Guru Prasad/Vineeth Manuel (IND) bt Mallik Jalal/R. Vijay Anand (IND) 21-17, 21-17, Raunaq Muradia/Kamaldeep Singh (USA/IND) K. K. Manjush Mohan/Venkatesh Prasad (IND) 17-21, 24-22, 21-16, Surender Rathee/Neeraj Vashist (IND) bt M. R. Manikandan/Velavan Vasudevan (IND) 15-21, 21-14, 21-18

Women's singles: Rituparna Das (IND) bt G.M. Nischitha 21-10, 18-21, 21-11 (IND), Mohita Sahdev (IND) bt Yamini Sharma (IND) 21-12, 21-15, Anastasia Chervaykova (RUS) bt Dhanya Nair (IND) 21-10, 20-22, 21-14, G. Ruthvika Shivani (IND) bt Mudra Dhainje 17-21, 21-10, 21-13 (IND), Trupti Murgunde (IND) bt Riya Pillai (IND) 21-14, 8-21, 21-18, Varsha Belawadi (IND) Asmaa Badie Tawfeek (EGY) 21-19, 21-14, Jacqueline Rose Kunnath (IND) bt Juhi Dewangan (IND) 21-10, 21-16, Saili Rane (IND) bt Nisha Karamchand (IND) 19-21, 21-12, 21-10

Second round:

Men's singles: Arvind Bhat (IND) bt Aditya Prakash (IND) 20-22, 21-14, 21-18, H. S. Prannoy (IND) bt Anup Sridhar (IND) 21-17, 21-14, Chetan Anand (IND) bt Sameer Verma (IND) 22-20, 11-21, 21-13, Subhankar Dey (IND) bt Oscar Bansal (IND) 21-23, 21-10, 21-16

Men's doubles: K. Chaitanya Reddy/Santosh Ravuri (IND) bt D. Guru Prasad/Vineeth Manuel (IND) 16-21, 22-20, 21-18, Raunaq Muradia/Kamaldeep Singh (USA/IND) bt B. Venkatesh/T. Dinesh (IND) 21-15 21-19

Women's singles: Rituparna Das (IND) bt Mohita Sahdev (IND) 21-16, 21-11, Trupti Murgunde (IND) bt Anastasia Chervaykova (RUS) 21-19, 21-19, G. Ruthvika Shivani (IND) bt Varsha BelawadiA (IND) 21-11, 21-11, Saili Rane (IND) bt Jacqueline Rose Kunnath (IND) 21-15, 21-14