Chetan skips selection trials

Hyderabad, May 6 (UNI) National badminton champion Chetan Anand, doubles champions Gutta Jwala and Shruti Kurien did not turn up for Sudhirman Cup selection trials which began at SAAP Indoor Stadium Gachibowli here today.

The selected shuttlers, will attend a camp before leaving for Glasgow, Scotland, to participate in Sudhirman Cup from June 11 to 17.

The trio will be out of Indian squad for atleast four tournaments in near future, according to sources.

Chetan Anand, placed 30th in IBF rankings, and Gutta Jwala and Shruti Kurien, ranked 25th in women doubles, skipped the Asian Badminton Championship earlier. They had requested the Badminton Association of India (BAI) to forward their entries to two Super Series events -- Singapore Open and Indonesia Open.

BAI refused to forward their entries as they along with some other players had a poor run in the recent European circuit and told them to join the national camp at Gachibowli.

Barring the trio, others have joined the camp. However, Anand Pawar and Aditi Mutatkar abstained from the camp on grounds of the annual examinations and Anoop Sridhar on being injured.

The absence of Chetan Anand (men singles), Gutta Jwala and Shruti Kurien (doubles pair) has created two vacancies in the Indian team for the Sudhirman cup.

Now, they would not be considered for selections for four more tournaments. They will further fall in the IBF rankings and have to take part in the qualifying draw in future to gain points.

Meanwhile, BAI went ahead with its selection trials under the supervision of its observer Mr Shetty.

Rohan Castleno of Karnataka defeated Ravindra Singh of Uttar Pradesh in a match that extended into three games.

First day's results: Men's Singles: P Kashyap (AP) bt Ajay Jayaram (Maharastra) 21-16, 21-12, P Kashyap (AP) bt Sagar Chopda (AI) 21-13, 21-7, Ajay Jayaram (Maharastra) bt Ravindra Singh (UP) 21-10, 21-16, Rohan Castleno (Karnataka) bt Ravindra Singh (UP) 18-21, 21-17, 21-14, Rohan Castleno (Karnataka) bt Sagar Chopda (AI) 21-10, 21-16.

Women Doubles: Aparna Balan (Kerala)&Ashwini Ponnappa (Karnataka) bt Abantika Deka&Rimmi Hazarika (Assam) 21-12, 21-11, Saina Nehwal (A.P)&Nitya Sosale (Maharastra) bt P Jyosthna (AP)&Saumya Upadyaya (Karnataka) 21-16, 21-16, Abantika Deka&Rimmi Hazarika (Assam) bt Jyosthna (AP)&Saumya Upadhyaya (Karnataka) 21-17, 21-16.

UNI