India shuttlers dominate SAG
The Indians won all that came their way without even dropping a set.
It was also for the first time that Shillongites got a view of the famed doubles duo of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa. The duo beat Sri Lanka's Chandrika De Silva and Nadeesha Gayanthi 21--, 21-12 to ease to the semis of the women's doubles event.
K Srikanth and HS Prannoy made to the round of four in the men's singles beating Ahmed Thoif Mohamed of Maldives and Murad Ali of Pakistan respectively. While Srikanth sent Nepal's Bikash Shrestha packing for a place in the quarters, Prannoy tamed Bhutan's Karma Chendru to make the cut.
PV Sindhu, who received a bye to quarters, took just 15 minutes to beat Maldives' Aishath Afnaan 21-7, 21-7 to reach semis.
India's Ruthvika Shivani also made it to the last four beating Sri Lanka's Thilini Hendahewa and Pakistan's Khizna on her way.
There was a sudden buzz at the NEHU indoor sports complex when the famed Indian women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa arrived at the court for their quarterfinal encounter with Sri Lanka's Chandrika De Silva and Nadeesha Gayanthi.
Gutta looked relaxed and visibly casual in her approach initially but was spot on with her moves. The crowd put its weight behind the Indian pair as Gutta went about things in a way unique to her. Gutta delivered accurate strokes and never missed a chance to press the deception button thus confusing her opponents.
Ponnappa, meanwhile, delivered a couple of perfect cross court smashes to rattle the opponents. The duo sealed the game 21-11, 21-12.
The most closely fought encounter of the day for the Indians was the quarterfinal match between the women's doubles pair of Maneesha Kukapalli and Sikki Reddy and Pakistan's Saima Wagas and Sara. While the Indian pair sailed through 21-9 in the first set, Saima and Sara came back strong in the second threatening to take the set, a first against India in the event till now. Down 16-18, the Indian pair fought back to 18-18 and subsequently won the set 21-19.
In the men's doubles Sumeeth Reddy and Manu Atri beat the Pakistan pair of Azeem and Irfan 21-14, 21-17 to the semis.
The other Indian men's doubles pair of Akshay Dewalkar and Pranav Jerry Chopra made light work of Bangladesh' Enamul and Parash beating them 21-10, 21-11 in just 20 minutes.
In mixed doubles, Manu Atri and Ashwini Ponnappa dismissed Pakistan's Shabar Hussain and Saima Wagas in just 16 minutes beating them 21-7, 21-4.
The other Indian mixed doubles pair of Pranav Jerry Chopra and Sikki Reddy beat Nepal's Ratnajit Tamang and Sara Devi Tamang in straight sets to proceed.
With all the Indians making the cut, an all-Indian final looks like a foregone conclusion on Wednesday.
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