National champion Ruthvika Shivani Gadde, along with three others, kept the host nation's challenge alive in women's singles by entering the quarter finals of the Tata Open Indian International Badminton Challenge at the CCI courts here today.
Ruthvika, the defending champion from Hyderabad who is seeded eighth in the singles, easily disposed of Singapore's Ren-Ne Ong 21-10 21-18 in less than half an hour in the prequarterfinals.
The 18-year-old B. Com student, coming back into competitive badminton after a bout of viral hepatitis that laid her low for three months in the middle of this year, has a tough task to progress further as she takes on top seed Jing Yi Tee of Malaysia tomorrow for a place in the semifinals.
"I had played her once two years ago in the Syed Modi Memorial Tournament and lost," said Shivani who is currently ranked 109th in the world and is a trainee at the Gopichand Academy in her city of residence.
Shivani had got the better of Malaysian world no. 198, Ying Ying Lee, 21-17 21-17 in 38 minutes in the round of 32 held this morning.
Malaysian top seed Jing Yi, ranked 37th in the world, outclassed India's Anura Prabhudesai 21-13 21-9 in just 21 minutes to make the last eight.
Two-time title winner P C Thulasi, the fourth seed, third seed Saili Rane and no. 7 Tanvi Lad also made the grade in the women's singles.
Former national champion Arundhati Pantawane gave a tough time to Indonesian rival Erlina Kurnianti before bowing out in three games -- 15-21 21-17 21-12 -- in 54 minutes.
Arundhati had upset fifth seed Chiew Sien Lim of Malaysia, ranked 90 in the world, 21-13 21-13 in the first round this morning.
In men's singles, third-seeded national runner-up Sameer Verma made it to the quarter finals with a facile 21-13 21-5 win over Venkat Gaurav Prasad.
Fourth seed Anand Pawar, seventh seed Subhankar Dey and unseeded Sourabh Verma were the other Indians to enter the quarterfinals.
The results (all from India unless stated otherwise):
Women's singles (1st round): Jing Yi Tee (Mas) bt Mudra Dhainje 21-15 21-14; Anura Prabhudesai bt Rucha Nikam 21-14 6-1 retd, Rutvika Shivani Gudde bt Ying Ying Lee (Mas) 21-17 21-17; Ren-Ne Ong (Sin) bt Rasika Raje 24-22 21-14; P C Thulasi bt Vaishnavi Bhale 21-15 21-15; Neha Pandit bt Achininimeshika Mudiyanselage (Sri) 21-14 23-21; Yen Mei Ho (Mas) bt Hui Zhen Grace Chua (Sin) 21-16 21-11; Shruti Mundada bt Chun Yi Deline Quek (Sin) 21-10 21-13; Erlina Kurnianti (Ina) bt Lalita Dahiya 21-16 21-12; Arundhati Pantawane bt Chiew Sien Lim (Mas); Lekha Handunkuttihettige (Sri) bt Kuhoo Garg 21-12 21-16; Saili Rane bt Mugdha Agrey 21-13 21-14; Mayuri Yadav bt Jyoti Nashier 21-18 14-21 21-12; Tanvi Lad bt Jin Wei Goh (Mas) 21-9 22-20; Nguyen Thuy Linh (Vie) bt Riya Pillai 21-16 21-13; Pornpawee Chochuwong (Tha) bt Shreyanshi Pardeshi 11-2 retd.
Second round: Jing Yi Tee (Mas) bt Anura Prabhudesai 21-13 21-9; Ruthvika Shivani Gadde bt Ren-Ne Ong (Sin) 21-10 21-18; P C Thulasi bt Neha Pandit 21-11 21-10; Yen Mei Ho (Mas) bt Shruti Mundada 21-12 22-20; Erlina Kurnianti (Ina) bt Arundhati Pantawane 15-21 21-17 21-12; Saili Rane bt Lekha Handunkuttihettige (Sri) 14-21 21-11 21-13; Tanvi Lad bt Mayuri Yadav 21-12 21-13; Pornpawee Chochuwong (Tha) bt Nguyen Thuy Linh (Vie) 21-13 21-9.
Men's singles (1st round): Kaushal Dharmamer bt Sarang
Lakhanee 20-22 21-13 21-13; Zin Rei Ryan Ng (Sin) bt Abhishek Yelegar 21-17 21-18; Joo Ven Soong (Mas) bt Aditya Joshi 21-12 13-21 21-17; Shreyansh Jaiswal bt Chirag Sen 21-18 21-14; Sameer Verma bt Oscar Bansal 21-15 5-1 retd; Venkat Gaurav Prasad bt Ratnajit Tamang 21-19 21-17; Subhankar Dey bt Yee Han Chong (Mas) 21-11 16-21 23-21; Ansal Yadav bt Artyom Savatyugin (Uzb) 21-8 21-14; K Ajay Kumar bt Harsheel Dani 21-19 14-21 21-16; Lim Chi Wing (Mas) bt Amrullo Bakshullaev (Uzb) 21-10 21-17; Pratul Joshi bt Arun Kumar Ashok Kumar 21-8 21-19; Anand Pawar bt June Wei Cheam (Mas) 21-16 16-21 21-14; Sourabh Verma bt Harshit Aggarwal 21-18 21-14; Neeraj Vashisht bt Abhimanyu Singh 21-13 21-18; Siddharth Thakur bt Vi Hen Tan (Mas) 21-16 14-21 21-6; R Satheishtharan (Mas) bt Andrew Susanto (Ina) 21-13 21-15.
Second round: Zin Rei Ryan Ng (Sin) bt Kaushal Dharmamer 11-21 21-12 21-19; Joo Ven Soong (Mas) bt Shreyansh Jaiswal 22-20 21-15; Sameer Verma bt Venkat Gaurav Prasad 21-13 21-5; Subhankar Dey bt Ansal Yadav 21-18 22-20; Lim Chi Wing (Mas) bt K Ajay Kumar 21-13 21-11; Anand Pawar bt Pratul Joshi 21-15 21-15; Sourabh Verma bt Neeraj Vashisht 17-21 21-18 21-9; R Satheishtharan (Mas) bt Siddharth Thakur 21-6 21-18.
