Barring former national champion Chetan Anand retiring due to injury, there were no casualties on Saturday as the main draw of the 76th Senior National Badminton Championship got underway here.
Anand had injured his foot while training in the gymnasium recently. He was leading 2-1 against Andhra Pradesh’s Vijetha NVS in the men’s singles first round but was forced to retire. “It is still troubling me a little bit,” Anand said. “I need to give it a few more days of rest.”
However, Karnataka’s Anup Sridhar did not have too much trouble as the local player scored an easy 21-2 21-7 victory over Porsuram Joshi of MEG.
Maharashtra’s Sagar Chopda also made it to the second round of the men’s singles and so did Air India’s Anand Pawar.
In the women’s singles, there were no upsets as top players Gayatri Vartak (PSPB), Sanyogita Ghorpade (AI) and Anuradha Shrikhande (Mah) advanced to the second round. Karnataka players Varsha Belawadi, Nischitha GM, Arsheen Syeda Saadath, Sindhu Bhardwaj and Ruth Misha V also made it to the second round.
Results (Round 1): Men’s singles: Anup Sridhar (Kar) bt Porsuram Joshi (Meg) 21-2 21-7; Eshan Naqvi (Mah) bt Sachin Ratti (Rly) 21-17 21-18; Vijetha NVS (AP) bt Chetan Anand B (PSPB) 1-2 Retired; Sagar Chopda (Mah) bt Ashish Sharma (Dli) 21-9 21-17; Anand Pawar (AI) bt Mohsin Sumra (Guj) 21-7 21-10
Women’s singles: Gayatri Vartak (PSPB) bt Sri Krishna Priya K (AP) 21-9 21-10; Sanyogita Ghorpade (AI) bt Shabnam Naaz (Jhar) 21-6 21-9; Anuradha Shrikhande (Mah) bt Kaberi Phukon (Asm) 21-11 8-3 ret
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