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Apparently K.Srikanth is the top seed here! He had a bye in R1, but today's schedule shows that he gave a walk-over to Misha Zilberman? Hope he is not injured as Rio draws closer.

Same with our Mxd pair of Manu Attri/Ashwini Ponnappa who seem to have given a walk-over to the Candian pair of Dong Adam/Qingzi Quyang.

- Varma

I don't think there is any injury to Srikanth. He was in Delhi a couple of a days back when all the Rio bound athletes were given a reception by PM Modi. So, it seems he never travelled to US.

In badminton draws are made about a month in advance and it seems usual for players to withdraw after the draw is made. Not sure why they are not replaced by lucky losers as in tennis.

Yesterday's results-

[R2] (5) H. S. Prannoy (IND,28) d. Joshua MAGEE (IRL,237) 21-9 21-8
[R2] Pratul JOSHI (IND,191) d. Milan LUDIK (CZE,72) 21-18 21-13
[R2] R. M. V. Gurusaidutt (IND,108) l. Kazumasa SAKAI (JPN,77) 17-21 12-21
[R2] (4) Ajay JAYARAM (IND,24) d. Raul MUST (EST,38) 21-14 21-9
[R2] Anand PAWAR (IND,86) d. David OBERNOSTERER (AUT,68) 21-12 21-9
[R2] (6) B. Sai Praneeth (IND,37) d. B. R. Sankeerth (CAN,294) 21-15 21-7

[R2] GADDE Ruthvika Shivani (IND,110) l. Ayumi MINE (JPN,87) 19-21 21-15 18-21
[R2] Tanvi LAD (IND,79) d. Nikte Alejandra SOTOMAYOR (GUA,199) 21-6 21-9

So, except Guru and Shivani everyone else won their matches.

These are today's singles match-ups -

[PQF] (5) H. S. Prannoy (IND,28) d. LEE Hyun Il (KOR,44)
[PQF] Pratul JOSHI (IND,191) vs. Anand PAWAR (IND,86)
[PQF] (4) Ajay JAYARAM (IND,24) vs. Pedro MARTINS (POR,65)
[PQF] (6) B. Sai Praneeth (IND,37) vs. Kazumasa SAKAI (JPN,77)

[PQF] Tanvi LAD (IND,79) d. (5) Beiwen ZHANG (USA,33)

Disappointing performance today in US as only Ajay won against a non- Indian player.

[PQF] (5) H. S. Prannoy (IND,28) l. LEE Hyun Il (KOR,44) 23-25 21-23
[PQF] Anand PAWAR (IND,86) d. Pratul JOSHI (IND,191) 21-10 21-13
[PQF] (4) Ajay JAYARAM (IND,24) d. Pedro MARTINS (POR,65) 21-11 21-15
[PQF] (6) B. Sai Praneeth (IND,37) l. Kazumasa SAKAI (JPN,77) 21-13 17-21 20-22

[PQF] Tanvi LAD (IND,79) l. (5) Beiwen ZHANG (USA,33) 17-21 15-21

Sai Praneeth had 3 match points at 20-17 in the third game but lost 5 straight points. Another case of mental breakdown by Indian players ? We are seeing this too often in case of Indian players in badminton and tennis.

[QF] (4) Ajay JAYARAM (IND,24) vs. Anand PAWAR (IND,86)

So, an Indian semi finalists is ensured. Also our second seeded mens doubles pair of Manu Atri/Sumeeth Reddy and womens doubles pair of Meghna/ Poorvisha Ram have made the QF.

Ajay easily won against Anand.

[QF] (4) Ajay JAYARAM (IND,24) d. Anand PAWAR (IND,86) 21-11 21-11

Both our doubles pairs lost their matches. Second seeded pair of Manu Atri and Sumeeth Reddy got upset by a Japanese pair in 3 games after winning the first game.

So, next,

[SF] (4) Ajay JAYARAM (IND,24) vs. Kanta TSUNEYAMA (JPN,61)

A tame loss in 33 minutes for Ajay against 20 yr old Japanese, Kanta Tsuneyama, ranked 61.

Ajay Jayaram (4) l. Kanta Tsuneyama 10-21, 14-21

That ends the Indian Challenge, and my hopes of going to see Ajay lift the trophy tomorrow

- Varma