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2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist RMV Gurusaidutt continues his comeback from injury as he reached the pre-quarter-finals of the $65, 000 Scottish Open Grand Prix in Glasgow on Thursday. He was joined in the third round by the 12th seed Subhankar Dey and Karan Rajan Rajarajan.
In women’s singles, Tanvi Lad made it to the pre-quarter-finals while Norwegian International champion Saili Rane made a first round exit.
Gurusaidutt was promoted into the main draw from the qualifying rounds and he made good use of the opportunity as he notched up a couple of wins. The first round proved to be tough as he had to claw his way back from a first-game deficit to knock out qualifier Phone Pyae Naing, 14-21, 21-14, 21-11.
In the second round, he edged the 101st ranked Gergely Krausz in the first game and then ran away in the second to post a 21-19, 21-7 victory.
Up next for him is his compatriot, Karan Rajan Rajarajan, who has been a giant-killer at this tournament. The 21-year-old put on a gutsy show in the first round and stunned the 11th seed and home favourite Kieran Merrilees, 21-19, 21-15.
In the next round, he ground out a narrow 10-21, 21-18, 21-18 win over Sri Lanka’s Niluka Karunaratne.
Gurusaidutt was once ranked as high as 19th in the world. But an ankle injury and a subsequent surgery rendered him out of action for nearly a year. Now fully recovered, he has started climbing his way back to the top echelons.
He won the Bulgarian International title in October that shot him up nearly 500 places to 481st in the rankings. He currently holds on to the 476th spot.
Also read: BWF Rankings: Big jump for RMV Gurusaidutt after Bulgarian International title
No trouble for Dey
Meanwhile, Subhankar Dey had absolute no trouble in progressing to the pre-quarter-finals. The National Championships bronze medallist easily dispatched England’s Michael Spencer-Smith 21-14, 21-10 and then followed it up with a 21-12, 21-14 victory over Christian Kirchmayr of Switzerland.
Double delight for Lad
Women’s singles World No. 100 Tanvi Lad emerged a 21-16, 21-14 winner over Czech Republic’s Katerina Tomalova. Saili Rane was shown the door by the eighth seeded Natalia Perminova, 17-21, 21-17, 15-21.
Lad also teamed up with England’s Evie Burbidge for a 21-13, 21-14 win over the all-English pair of Alexandra Oprisan and Gunjan Randhawa. The men’s doubles duo of Nikhar Garg and Aniruddha Mayekar was ousted 5-21, 4-21 by the top seeds Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge.
