Aparna Popat upsets top seed
in first round
India's Aparna Popat made a mockery of the seedings in women's badminton beating top seed Lenny Permana of Australia in the opening round of the singles in the Commonwealth Games in Manchester on Wednesday.
Unseeded Popat, who had to be satisfied with the silver medal four years ago in Kuala Lumpur when she lost to Kelly Morgan of Wales, won in straight games 8-7, 7-4, 7-1.
Popat, who came back strongly after serving a three month ban in 2000, rallied to win the first game 8-7 and then changed gears to thrash her opponent.
She will now clash with Amrita Samwaram of Mauritius.
Also to move in last 16 was B R Meenakshi. She defeated Jane Crabtree of Australia 7-2, 7-1, 7-0 in the second round. Earlier she had defeated Amaani Rasheed of Maldives 7-0, 7-0, 7-2 in the first round.
Former All England champion Pullela Gopichand moved into the last 16, thwarting a spirited challenge from Bruce Topping of Northern Ireland. Gopichand won 7-2, 7-4, 7-5.
Earlier in the day, he had accounted for Curwin Cherubin of Barbados 7-2, 7-0, 7-1 in the first round.
Also to move into last 16 where Abhinn Shyam Gupta and Nikhil Kanetkar. Gupta defeated Graham Simpson of Scotland 7-2, 7-4, 7-5, while Kanetkar beat Ian Coombs-Goodfellow of Jersey 7-0, 7-1, 7-0.
Sachin Ratti lost to Stuart Brehaut of Australia in a hard fought match. Brehaut won the match 8-6, 7-1, 2-7, 6-8, 7-0.
In the next round Gopichand will face Stephan Wojcikiewicz of Canada; Abhinn will face Colin Haughton of England and Kanetkar faces Tsuen Seng Lee of Malaysia.
In the mixed doubles, Valiyaveetil Diju and Jwala Gutta defeated Bruce Topping and Jayne Plunkett of Northern Ireland 8-7, 7-3, 7-5 in the second round to move into last 16.
Sanave Thomas and Shruti Kurien put up a gallant fight before succumbing in four games to Scots Craig Robertson and Yuan Wemyss. The Indians lost 6-8, 1-7, 7-1, 2-7.
