National men’s singles champion Arvind Bhat of Petroleum Sports Promotion Board was knocked out by a qualifier in the opening round of the 2nd Tata Open All India Badminton Tournament at the CCI here today.

The second-seeded Bhat, coming into the event after taking part in three international tournaments in South East Asia, was beaten 19-21 16-21 by unheralded Andhra Pradesh shuttler K Tanishaq in 40 minutes.

Top seed Chetan Anand set up a quarterfinal clash with Ajay Jayaram, as other seeds crossed their pre-quarter hurdles. “I felt dull on the court and he played well. I thought he would crack when scores were close, but he held hism nerves,” Bhat said after his shock first round exit. Bhat conceded he made too many unforced errors and could not exert control over the shuttle as much as he wanted. “I spoke to Prakash Padukone and am taking a break now and start training in a week’s time for the World Championship (in August in Hyderabad), said the shuttler who trains at the Padukone Academy in Bangalore.

Top seed Chetan Anand, also of Petroleum, sailed into the quarterfinals along with third seeded teammate P Kashyap and sixth seed Ajay Jayaram, the Mumbai-based shuttler. Anand ousted Pavan Malik of Chhattisgarh and P Vinay Kumar Reddy of AP in the first two rounds in straight games while Kashyap brushed aside the challenge from Utsav Mishra of AI and Saurabh Verma of MP in his first two ties in the Rs 5-lakh tournament.

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