US Open 2012: Chetan Anand fails to follow success in Men’s Singles event – Badminton News
India’s last hope in Men’s Singles event of Yonex OCBC US Open GPG got buried when veteran campaigner Chetan Anand failed to rise against Edwin Ekiring on Wednesday, July 4, 2012.
This pre quarter-final match was played at Orange County Badminton Club (OCBC) and both contenders remained head-to-head for just 26 minutes as the Indian surrendered after reading 18-21 and 13-21.
Chetan Anand, who was the hot favourite for this battle, proved all the predictions wrong by kneeling down in front of his lower ranked rival.
On the other hand, the Ugandan campaigner registered his mark by sealing a straight-set win over experienced but ill-fated shuttler.
The opening game set the overall tempo of the match as there were many ups and downs throughout this segment of the match.
Edwin Ekiring, who is ranked 16 in this tournament, prevailed in first half but he faced strong resistance en route to victory in later part of the game.
Both shuttlers remained equal until 5-5 but then Chetan made some fatal mistakes and allowed his challenger to place a mountainous total of 11-5.
This six-point lead was apparently indomitable but the Indian utilised all of his brilliance and experience to narrow the gap with 13-15 score on the board.
Edwin showed strong character in this tense situation and gathered four valuable points in a row to reach at dominating position of 19-13.
However, it was not smooth ride yet as Chetan also stepped forward with four consecutive rallies but his late assault was not enough to avoid 18-21 defeat in first set.
There was nothing much to do for him in the next game as the opposing Ugandan shuttler ruled the court on merit.
He laid foundation of his supremacy by registering 6-2 in no time and then doubled the impact with 11-6 margin before the mid-game break.
Though, Chetan strived hard to catch him but he could not match his rival’s speed throughout the first half.
He showed some spark by clinching four continuous points in the third quarter of the set but he failed to maintain this momentum and crashed out with concluding figure of 13-21.
India had to draw a blank as its other campaigner Akshit Mahajan already flew back home after a second round exit.
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