Scottish GP: RMV Gurusaidutt and Tanvi Lad enter quarter-finals; Subhankar Dey bites the dust
2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist RMV Gurusaidutt continues his superb run at the $65, 000 Scottish Open Grand Prix as he reached the quarter-finals of this Glasgow tournament on Friday. But curtains came down on the campaign of the 12th seeded Subhankar Dey. In women’s singles, Tanvi Lad too made it to the last-eight stage.
Gurusaidutt was thoroughly dominant in his all-Indian quarter-final clash with the rising star, Karan Rajan Rajarajan before the 21-year-old retired while trailing 9-21, 4-8. The unfinished encounter lasted just 18 minutes.
Rajarajan had been showing the same form this week that took him to the Guatemala Future Series title win in July. He upset the 11th seed and home favourite Kieran Merrilees in the first round in straight games and was thus expected to give some resistance to Gurusaidutt.
The latter is climbing his way back to the top echelons after enduring a torrid time due to an ankle injury and a subsequent surgery. However, Rajarajan pulled the plug that sent the 476th ranked Indian into the quarter-finals.
It is still unclear what exactly the nature of his injury was that led to the retirement.
The former World No. 19 Gurusaidutt, who won the Bulgarian International in October, next takes on the winner of the pre-quarter-final showdown between the sixth seeded Mark Caljouw and Victor Svendsen.
Also read: BWF Rankings: Big jump for RMV Gurusaidutt after Bulgarian International title
Dey loses to lower-ranked player
12th seeded Subhankar Dey played a brilliant second game but failed to sustain that level in the decider and succumbed to an 18-21, 21-19, 16-21 defeat at the hands of the World No. 148 Henri Aarnio of Finland.
The 67th ranked Dey’s career has been on an upward swing for the past few months. He qualified for the Denmark Open Superseries Premier and lost in the first round to eventual champion Srikanth Kidambi.
At the Senior National Championships, he upset the Singapore Open Superseries winner B Sai Praneeth on his way to clinching the bronze medal. So, this was definitely a setback in what has been a confidence-boosting run so far.
Big upset for Tanvi Lad
Tanvi Lad, ranked 100th currently, showed nerves of steel for a gruelling 21-18, 12-21, 21-16 win over the sixth seed and World No. 50 Rachel Honderich of Canada. She next meets the third seeded Mia Blichfeldt for a place in the semi-finals.