Saina crashes out of England Open-2011

Saina Nehwal, India's best & last remaining hope at the England Open -2011, crashed out of the tournament after losing in straight sets to her lower ranked Japanese opponent Eriko Hirose.

Eriko Hirose defeated the 5th seeded Saina Nehwal 21-11, 22-20 to advance to the semi-finals of the mega prestigious badminton event. Saina who must have been looking forward to emulate the feat of her coach P Gopichand by winning the England Open, will have to wait for the next time now to try again.

Last year Saina Nehwal had a fantastic run and won several Super series events & coveted titles, but this year she has struggled to find that form & momentum so far.

In other quarter-final matches of the women's singles badminton event, top Chinese players, Shixian Wang & Xin Wang advanced to the semi-finals of the event.
Shixian Wang defeated Juliane Schenk of Germany 17-21, 21-17, 21-11. Xin Wang defeated another Chinese player Yanjiao Jiang 21-12, 21-15.
In the remaining quarterfinal match Bulgarian Petya Nedelcheva ended the fine run of Juan Gu of Singapore who had started out by playing the qualifying rounds.Petya won the match 21-16, 21-19.

In the men's singles, top badminton stars Chong Wei Lei (Malaysia), Long Chen (China), Lin Dan (China), and Marc Zweibler (Germany) advanced to the semi-finals.

Saina in quarterfinals of England Open-2011

India's star badminton player & best hope at the England Open-2011, Saina Nehwal, reached the quarter-finals of the tournament defeating Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei in the 2nd round.

Nehwal defeated Tzu Ying Tai in 2 straight sets 21-17, 21-17 raising her game at crucial junctures of the match.

Earlier in the first round, Saina overcame the surprisingly fast drift on both sides of the court (usually if the drift on one side is fast, then on the other side its slow) to get past Seung Hee Bae of Korea, who was her first round opponent.

Saina Nehwal is drawn to play against Eriko Hirose of Japan in the quarter-finals. All other Indians have already crashed out of the England Open, and Saina is now the lone Indian flag-bearer left.

In the other interesting & dramatic 2nd round developments, top seed Shixian Wang got a walkover from her Chinese compatriot Xin Lu, while 3rd seed Xin Wang, also of China got a walkover from another Chinese opponent Xuerui Li.

More high drama was also seen in the men's singles, where top seed Chong Wei Lee of Malaysia who was in his hotel room got barely an hours notice to prepare & report for his 2nd round match against the dangerous opponent Chunlai Bao of China. To his credit, Chong did not let this affect his performance in the match winning 21-16, 21-16. However he later avoided speaking to the media, and rushed away.

From the quarter-final stage competition in all events will be intense, and spectators can expect a lot of action-packed drama on court in the remainder of the All England Open-2011.

England Open 2011 - updates

Indian performances at the Yonex All England Open Badminton Championship 2011 - updates:

Women's Singles:
Saina Nehwal, one of the top 5 players in the world today, and India's best hope at the England Open-2011, advanced comfortably to the 2nd round. She defeated Seung Hee Bae of Korea, 21-13, 21-16.

Saina is scheduled to play next against Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei in the 2nd round, to be played later in the day today.

Men's Singles:
Indian badminton players, Anand Pawar & Ajay Jayaram who had won 2 qualifying rounds on the opening day of the England Open to get an entry into the main draw, could not advance any further as they lost their main draw first round matches.
Anand Pawar lost to Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk of Thailand 16-21, 18-21.
Ajay Jayaram lost to Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka of Indonesia 17-21, 19-21.

P Kashyap, who is the highest ranked badminton player from India in the men's singles event, and who had got a direct entry into the main draw, also could not get through to the 2nd round.
Kashyap lost to Marc Zwiebler of Germany in 3 sets, by a score of 11-21, 21-8, 17-21

With Anand, Ajay & Kashyap now out of contention, India's challenge in the men's singles event has come to an end.

Mens Doubles:
India's top mens doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar & Sanave Thomas, had got a direct entry into the main draw. They won their first round, but lost in the second one.

1st round:
[Rupesh Kumar & Sanave Thomas] bt. [Teik Chai Gan & Bin Shen Tan (MAS)] 21-13, 21-18.

2nd round:
[Rupesh Kumar & Sanave Thomas] lost to [Mohammad Ahsan & Septano Bona (Indonesia)] 16-21, 16-21

Women's Doubles
India's best women's doubles badminton pair of Jwala Gutta & Ashwini Ponnappa won their first round match against Maria Helsbol & Anne Skelbaek of Denmark by a score of 21-11, 21-18.

However in the 2nd round Gutta & Ponnappa had a disappointing outing, losing a close match in 3 sets to the Danish women's doubles pair of Line Damkjaer Kruse & Marie Roepke who came through the qualifying rounds. Kruse-Marie defeated Jwala-Ashwini 17-21, 21-19, 21-18.

Mixed Doubles:
Jwala Gutta & V.Diju, India's best mixed doubles combination, won their first round match against Yeon Seong Yoo & Min Jung Kim of Korea. The match was one of the closest matches of the day and the final scoreline read 21-23, 21-13, 25-23.

However after scoring this thrilling first round win, Jwala & Diju were pitted against one of the best mixed doubles pairs in the world, in the 2nd round. Tao Jiaming & Qing Tian of China.
Jwala-Diju lost to Tao Jiaming & Qing Tian 11-21, 12-21.

England Open - Anand, Ajay get winning start

Anand Pawar & Ajay Jayaram had a great opening day at the England Open 2011. Both of them have won their first 2 matches of the qualifying rounds & reached the main draw of the event.

Qualifying round results for Indians:

Ajay Jayaram bt. Eric Pang (NED) 21-17, 21-14
Ajay Jayaram bt. Hans-Kristian Vittinghus (DEN) 17-21, 21-15, 22-20

After a comfortable 1st win, Ajay played a cliffhanger of a 2nd match, which went all the way to the wire. In the final 3rd set, Ajay managed to control his nerves better when he was trailing 16-19 and went on to win 4 points in a row to get a match-point at 20-19. Hans leveled the score to make it 20-20. From here, it could have gone either way. Ajay finally pocketed the match by winning the set at 22-20.

Anand Pawar bt.. Rune Ulsing (DEN) 21-10, 22-20
Anand Pawar bt. Hsuan Yi Hsueh (TPE) 21-18, 21-11

Both Anand & Ajay have come to play the England Open after playing the German Open just last week, and are undoubtedly in a bit of good touch. They had won their opening rounds at the German open before losing in the 2nd after tough fights.

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England Open - 2011, from 8th to 13th Mar

The Yonex All England Open Badminton Championship 2011 is being played from the 8th to 13th Mar-2011, at Birmingham in England.

There is Indian participation in all of the events.

In the women's singles, Indian badminton's star player Saina Nehwal is seeded 5th, and a lot of people have started expecting a lot of great wins from her after her fine run in the year 2010. Sensing that she has not got so great a start to 2011, she will no doubt try to give her very best at the prestigious England Open.

In the mens singles India's highest ranked badminton player in the mens singles, P Kashyap is part of the main draw. Though his chances at the title look slim in the presence of heavyweights such as Lin Dan, Lee Chong Wei, he undoubtedly has the capacity to get a few stunning upset wins.

The doubles sections has the best Indian doubles pairs participating. Jwala Gutta-V.Diju in the mixed doubles, Rupesh Kumar-Sanave Thomas in the men's doubles, and Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa in the women's doubles.
Jwala-Diju & Jwala-Ashwini have come up with consistent performances recently this year, though they havent won any major badminton title.

Ajay Jayaram & Anand Pawar will be playing the qualifying rounds, and they are coming to England, straightaway after playing the German open, so they should be in a bit of good touch too.

The England Open-2011 opening round draws for Indian players are as below:

Womens Singles: Saina Nehwal vs. Seung Hee Bae (KOR)
Mens Singles: P Kashyap vs. Marc Zweibler (GER)

Qualifying mens singles draws for Indians:
Ajay Jayaram vs. Eric Pang
Anand Pawar vs. Rune Ulsing

Mens Doubles:
Rupesh Kumar& Sanave Thomas vs.Teik Chai Gan& Bin Shen Tan (MAS)

Womens Doubles:
Jwala Gutta& Ashwini Ponnappa vs.Maria Helsbol& Anne Skelbaek (DEN)

Mixed Doubles:
Jwala Gutta& V.Diju vs. Yeon Seong Yoo& Min Jung Kim (KOR)