Jabbar, Bader top IBAK Spring Group AB
Uttara wins all seven games in Ladies
KUWAIT CITY, Feb 25:Jabbar and Bader were the best in one group while Dr Mani and Dr Piyush were at the top in the other in the men’s pre-quarterfinal stage of the IBAK Spring Challenge Cup, organized by Indian Badminton AssociationKuwait (IBAK) at the Saad Al Awzi School in Salwa this week.
These two groups had been formed after selecting the best four players from each of the four groups in the Elimination Round. The top players of the pre-quarterfinals will after the current league round move to the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, in the Ladies section of the singles tournament , Uttara remained the best after winning all her seven matches.
According to rules of the tournament , any player winning a match in two sets is awarded three points but if the game goes to three sets , the winner gets two points and the loser one.
Pre-quarterfinal games
In the men’s section, action was seen in two groups-each with eight pairs — after the top players from the A and B groups were put together with the pairs of the C and D groups seeing action in the other section.
In the AB group games, Jabbar and Bader proved to be the best .They eas- ily beat Mohammed and Yusef 21-13, 21-12 but were stretched in their second match by Suresh and Bastin before they could win 21-19, 13-21, 21-16.
Suresh and Bastin bounced back in their second match with a 21-11, 21-9 victory over Tom and Saju while Mohammed and Yusef also took to the winning road when they stopped Ajay and Naufal 21-12, 21-15.
Sanal and Dipek played only one match but they got maximum points from this game as they outclassed Deepak P.D. and Don Francis 21-18, 21-18.
The CD Group players saw a lot of action with Dr Mani and Dr Piyush proving to be the best in the initial stages after winning three of their four matches.
Mani and Piyush easily beat Mathew and Vasu 23-22, 21-13 in their first game but lost their second match to Suhoor and Nawas with the latter taking the game 10-21, 21-18, 21-15.
Mani and Piyush were soon back on the winning track as they stopped P.K. UnniKrishnan and Shine 21-13, 21-16 before they took three more points off Ganga and Arief with a 21-8, 21-9 victory.
In the other matches on the same day, Usman and Tamer were at their best when they hammered Dr Ranjith and Sunil 21-16, 21-5 before they routed Suhoor and Nawas 21-6, 21-14.
Meanwhile, Mathew and Vasu beat Ganga and Arief 21-23, 21-10, 21-9 while Suhoor and Nawas overcame Chandra and Pushkar 19-21, 21-18, 21-15, Chandra and Pushkar overwhelmed Mathew and Vasu 21-17, 2116 before they defeated P.K. UnniKrishnan and Shine 21-13, 21-16 and Suhoor and Nawas hammered Ganga and Arief 21-8, 21-13.
Elimination Round
After the group matches of the Elimination Round , the top four players from each of the groups qualified for the pre-quarterfinal League stage of the tournament but the Elimination Round saw a lot of tough games before this qualification took place.
In Group A this week , Sanal and Vivek outplayed Mohammed and Yusef 21-14, 21-12 while Suresh and Bastin saled past Ajay and Naufal 2112, 21-15,Mohammed and Yusef crushed Prasad and Shyam Sadwani 21-11, 21-11, Sanal and Vivek outclassed Ajay and Naufal 21-13, 21-16, Suresh and Bastin brushed aside Karl Miranda and Faiz Fouzan 21-4, 21-14 before they routed Balasubramanian and Thirumurgan 21-11, 21-11 and Karl Miranda and Faiz Fouzan ran over Abi and Tinu 21-11, 21-11.
In the other matches of the same group, Sanal and Vivek thrashed Karl Miranda and Faiz Fouzan 21-3, 21-12, Mohammed and Yusef routed Karl Miranda and Faiz Fouzan 21-8, 21-8 and then hammered Balasubramanian and Thirumurgan 21-14, 21-11, Ajay and Naufal outplayed Karl Miranda and Faiz Fouzan 21-9, 21-11 , Balasubramanian and Thirumurgan also tasted victory when they stopped Prasad and Shyam S. 21-11, 21-11 and in the end Karl Miranda and Faiz Fouzan triumphed twice as they first beat Prasad and Shyam S. 21-11, 2111 and then took Balasubramanian and Thirumurgan to task in their 21-16, 21-14 victory.
Group B saw a lot of tough clashes as Noor and Faheem were stretched to the limit when they overcame Deepak P.D. and Don Francis 23-22, 21-17 while Jabbar and Bader outclassed Arunkumar and Ashithosh 21-11, 2111, Noor and Faheem whipped Abbas and Sameer Ahmed 21-9, 21-14, and Jabbar and Bader overcame Noor and Faheem 21-11, 21-19 before they fought hard to stop Deepak P.D. and Don Francis 23-22, 21-15.
In the other Group B matches, Jabbar and Bader crushed Areif and partner 21-11, 21-11, and Deepak P.D. and Don Francis also routed Areif and partner 21-11, 21-11.
In the rest of the Group B matches, Noor and Faheem, Arunkumar and Ashithosh, Abbas and Sameer Saikhrishnan and Latheef were all victorious against Areif and partner.
Group C saw Dr Mani and Dr Piyush thrash Pranavesh and Nagaraj 21-11, 21-7 while Dr Ranjith and Sunil hammered Gary and Abhilash 21-11, 21-11, Mathew and Vasu outlasted Ranjith and Sunil 21-16, 21-18, Mani and Piyush beat Gary and Abhilash 21-11, 21-11, and Chandra and Pushkar defeated Pranavash and Nagaraj 21-18, 21-16 before they stopped Gary and Abhilash 21-11, 2111.
In the other matches of the same group, Mani and Piyush beat Ranjith and Sunil 21-14, 21-18 while Mathew and Vasu stopped Gary and Abhilash 21-11, 21-11, Ranjith and Sunil defeated Pranavesh and Nagaraj 21-9, 21-13 and Chandra and Pushkar were awarded a 21-11, 21-11 victory over Chittamani and Shaikh.
Also in Group C, taking to the courts were Mathew and Vasu, Mani and Piyush, Gary and Abhilash ,