India Grand Prix: Arvind Bhat survives stiff test to enter quarters

Indonesian top seed Dinonysius Hayom Rumbaka eased into the quarterfinals of the India Grand Prix on Thursday at the Kotla Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy Stadium with a straight games win over China’s Qiao Bin. Rumbaka set up a clash with India’s Aditya Elango, who was the beneficiary of a walkover from fifth seed Ajay Jayaram.

Another fascinating quarterfinal match was set up when P Kashyap overcame Youth Olympics silver medalist HS Prannoy 21-15 21-13 and will now meet Tommy Sugiarto, son of 1983 World Champion Icuk Sugiarto.

Former national champion Arvind Bhat struggled into the quarters with a close win against Derek Wong of Singapore. Arvind managed to sneak in with a 19-21 21-10 23-21 victory and will take on Thailand’s Suppanyu.

Bhat has had the toughest entry into the quarterfinals, with each of his three matches going into three games. The match against Wong was a close affair, with the Singaporean even holding match points at 20-19 and 21-20. Each time Bhat fought back, and finally clinched the issue at 23-21.

Meanwhile, in the women’s singles, junior national champion and hot prospect PV Sindhu dismissed Indonesian Febby Angguni 21-16 21-10 to make the quarters. She will take on compatriot Anita Ohlan. One other Indian — Neha Pandit — joined them in the quarters.

One of the most awaited matches of the day was P Kashyap against HS Prannoy. The two are products of Gopichand’s academy, and while one is rapidly advancing in the senior category, the other is a world-class junior prospect. But the experienced Kashyap did not allow Prannoy much leeway.