Guru shows who’s boss

India's RMV Gurusaidutt stormed into the quarterfinals of the Syed Modi International India Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament with an upset 21-10 21-16 win over seventh seed Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif of Malaysia 21-10, 21-16. Despite being seeded five places below Latif, Gurusaidutt was dominant from the get go. He was leading 12-4 in the first game and maintained the lead to win the first game at 21-10.

In the second game, though Arif fought well but the 22-year-old Gurusaidutt came up with some powerful smashes to take the match in 41 minutes. He (Latif) is a tricky player but I was prepared. I trusted my fitness and I'm glad that it worked," said Gurusaidutt. Second seed Parupalli Kashyap also advanced with a 21-16 21-17 win over Thailand's Parinyawat Thongnuam.

In the women's singles, PV Sindhu needed just 18 minutes to register a 21-9 21-9 win over unseeded Victoria Na of Australia. "I had never played against her (Victoria) before, but it was easy today," said Sindhu after the match.

It wasn't entirely one way traffic for the Indian contingent however. National champion Sayali Gokhale campaign came to an end with a 21-15 21-11 defeat at the hands of Indonesia fifth seed Aprilla Yuswandari.

Bai tightens screws

On the footsteps of Saina Nehwal pulling out at match point in her first round game against Russian Ksewnia Poli, the BAI is set to revamp its guidelines for player participation in tournaments.

BAI vice president TPS Puri said: "It has nothing to do with any one individual. We had already formulated a list of do's and don'ts for the players after the senior nationals," said Puri. "Saina has a genuine knee-injury.".

"A selection committee meet will be organised to finalise the core group for the 2014 Asian Games and other international tournaments. There, recommendations regarding the participation of players in tournaments will also be given," Puri said. BAI general secretary Dr Vijai Sinha added: "We expect our players to participate in big events like the Super Series, the Grand Prix Gold, the national championships and the IBL."

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