By IANS,
New Delhi : Indian qualifier Sourabh Verma pulled off a big upset defeating Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia in the men’s singles first round of the India Open Super Series 2011 badminton here Wednesday.
Sourabh beat Sony 21-18, 21-19 in only 41 minutes to crush the seasoned Sony, a former World No.3 and a bronze medallist in Athens Olympics.
Sourabh, who won the All India Senior Ranking tournament held at Atul, Gujarat in February was understandably ecstatic.
“It is my biggest win. I was not intimidated by his stature. I just wanted to give my best. I am glad that I began with a victory,” said Sourabh.
The Madhya Pradesh boy is playing his first Super Series event and went past the qualifying stage Tuesday.
“I moved into Gopichand academy during the Commonwealth Games camp and decided to stay there,” said Sourabh.
Among other Indians, Ajay Jayram gave a tough fight to World No.1 and top seed Lee Chong Wei before going down 19-21, 18-21.
Anand Pawar gave a tough challenge to Japanese Sho Sasaki but lost 21-19, 17-21, 12-21.
Anup Sridhar lost to Taufiq Hidayat 13-21, 5-21.
In women’s singles, Aditi Mutatkar tamely lost to fourth-seeded Pui Yin Yip of Hong Kong 14-21, 8-21 and Trupti Murgune went down to Aprilla Yuswandari 12-21, 5-21.
In mixed doubles, Akshay Dewalkar and Pradnya Gadre beat Japanese Noriyasu Hirata and Miyuki Maeda 21-17, 21-17 while Tarun Konia and Ashwini Ponnapa went down to Malaysian Soon Chan Peng and Goh Liu Ying 21-23, 10-21.
The women’s doubles pair of Aparna Balan and Prajakta Sawant also lost to Hong Kong’s Kyung Eun Jung and Ha Na Kim 13-21, 9-21.