After Yonex Open disappointment, five Indian shuttlers seeded in SKYCITY New Zealand Badminton Open

Anand Pawar in action during Yonex All England Badminton Open

The Indian shuttlers didn’t quite produce an eye-catching performance in the recent Yonex Australian Open Badminton Championships held at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre.

As many as three Indian shuttlers – Ajay Jayaram, RMV Gurusaidutt and Anand Pawar were seeded in the Grand Prix Gold event. Jayaram was seeded ninth, Gurusaidutt was seeded eleventh while Anand was seeded fourteenth.

But the seedings did not translate into any going-the-distance kind of performance from the trio. Jayaram was ousted by a player ranked below him in the second round.

Anand Pawar did a notch better, crashing out in the third round, losing to the tournament’s fourth seed in a gripping three-game encounter.

RMV Gurusaidutt perhaps provided the lone bright spark for India. The world number 36 reached the third round, and held his own against the world number one and top seed Lee Chong Wei.

The Indian lost the opening game tamely but dug deep into his reserves to stun the Malaysian, winning the second game before running out of steam.

There was not much good news from the seasoned shuttlers like Chetand Anand and Arvind Bhat, both of whom bowed out in the opening round. To be fair to them, both players seemed to be past their prime.

Sarada Jasti – the country’s lone woman entrant in the tournament – made a sedate exit, losing to her Japanese opponent in a one-sided match.

The Indian shuttlers now have an opportunity to make amends for their disappointing showing in the Yonex Australian Open Badminton Championships when they take part in the SKYCITY New Zealand Badminton Open, which begins at the North Shore Events Centre in Auckland.

Like the Yonex Australian Open, Ajay Jayaram is once again India’s highest seeded player in the Auckland event.

As many as five Indians are seeded. RMV Gurusaidutt is seeded fourth, Anand Pawar is seeded fifth, Arvind Bhat is seeded thirteenth and Chetan Anand is seeded fourteenth.

Ajay Jayaram will launch his campaign against 372nd ranked Winson Neo of Malaysia. RMV Gurusaidutt will run into a qualifier, while Anand Pawar takes on the 196th ranked Houwei Tian of China.

Arvind Bhat meets 473rd ranked Yu Fu Lim of Malaysia in the opening round.

Chetan Anand takes on local boy Asher Richardson, who is ranked 428th in the world.

In the women’s singles category, Sarada Jasti is the lone Indian entrant and she runs into a qualifier.

Indonesia’s world number 21 Simon Santoso is the top seed in the men’s singles category.

Chinese Taipei’s world number 19 Hsiao Ma Pai is the top seed in the women’s singles category.