HYDERABAD: The Indian challenge ended in the Indian Open Grand Prix badminton tournament when top seed Dionysisu Hayom Rumbaka of Indonesia demolished P Kashyap 21-19, 21-13 in 37 minutes in the men’s singles semifinal on Saturday. Rumbaka will meet world number 155 Suppanyu Avihingsanon of Thailand, who upset fourth seed Alamsyah Yunus of Indonesia 21- 14, 23-21.
Earlier, promising Pusarla Venkata Sindhu lost the battle but won the hearts as the 15- year-old Indian went down fighting to fifth seed Ratnasari Fransiska of Indonesia 21-17, 17-21, 15-21 in the women’s singles semifinal. Ratnasari will take on Zhou Hui of China in the final. Hui rallied to down Ana Rovita of Indonesia 15-21, 21-14, 21-14 in the first semi-final.
India’s mixed doubles hope Ashwini Ponnappa and Tarun Kona were beaten b y Liu Peixuan and Jinhua Tang of China 12-21, 18-21.
It was Sindhu who stole the show today. Egged on by the local crowd, the young Hyderabadi, revelled with her strokeplay. Pullela Gopi Chand was all praise for Sindhu.
“She lost but showed a lot of promise. Inexperience saw her lose crucial points. I liked the way she played,’’ said Gopi Chand.
Sindhu started on a false note, trailing 4-8 and 8-14. But hereabouts came Sindhu’s fightback. She played a fast attacking game to rattle Ratnasari.
Sindhu closed the first game with clinical smashes in 15 minutes. The second game went neck-and-neck but Sindhu was a player in a hurry. As a result, she began to give away a few negative points by either hitting into the net or out. Ratnasari’s game became sharper as she capitalised on Sindhu’s mistakes to wrap up the second game.
In a do-or-die third game, it was 6-all at the start. But Ratnasari always looked in control of the match as a nervous Sindhu frittered away easy points.
The Indonesian sealed victory after taking a 15-12 lead.
Kashyap flatters to deceive A superior Rumbaka outwitted the Indian with wide range of strokes.
The aggressive Indonesian outplayed the Indian with power and athleticism. The smash was Rumbaka’s main weapon and often caught Kashyap on the wrong foot.