CHARMAINE Reid of Canada became the first high-profile player to bite the dust in the Travelex Bahrain International Challenge badminton tournament being organised by Bahrain Keraleeya Samajam (BKS) in association with the Bahrain Badminton and Squash Federation.
The third-seeded player was shown the door in the round of 32 by unranked Slovakian Monika Fasungova in three exciting sets last night - 19-21, 22-20, 21-13. The underdog, ranked 125 in the world, narrowly lost the first game but won the second by an equally narrow margin before racing away to a comfortable victory in the third.
Another seeded player Maja Tvrdy of Slovenia found herself in an equally tricky situation but unlike the Canadian, the fourth seed managed to chart out an escape route after losing the first set 11-21 rather easily to India's Mohita Sahdev.
Tvryd was ruthless in the next two games and severely punished her unseeded opponent for entering untested waters by wining the next two games 21-10, 21-14 and book a slot in today's pre-quarter-finals.
The men, by contrast, had a much smoother time sailing into the round of 16 with fifth seeded Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia the most emphatic winner - the hapless victim being Sawas Mohamad of Syria who was clueless during a 21-6, 21-7 rout.
Meanwhile, Heri Setiawan and Anto Agna kept the local interest alive with stirring performances. Setiawan's heroics saw him beat Murad Ali of Pakistan 21-16, 19-21, 21-17 while Agna was much more convincing during her 21-18, 21-8 victory over Nadin Ashraf of Egypt.
The pre-quarter-finals will be played today, starting at 4pm, while the quarter-finals are scheduled for tomorrow, the semi-finals the same evening and the finals on Saturday, starting at 6pm. Entrance is free.
The mega sponsors of the event are Travelex, major sponsors Almarai and Chevron, main sponsors Mohammed Jalal & Sons and co-sponsors IPS Trade Middle East, Ahmed Zayani & Sons, Dubai Horizon, R.P Construction, Orange Graphics, Berger Paints and Maison Interiors.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
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