Hemanth lets top-seeded Ansal off the hook

The unseeded Hemanth messed up his drops and frequently netted his smashes to help Ansal level at 20 and make a great escape a little later.

Kerala's Treesa Jolly in action during the women's singles first round match of the Yonex-Sunrise Mathrubhumi senior National-ranking badminton tournament at Kozhikode.

Ansal Yadav defeated Karnataka’s M.G. Hemanth in the Yonex-Sunrise Mathrubhumi senior National-ranking badminton tournament at the V.K.K. Menon indoor stadium here on Thursday evening.

The men’s top-seed from UP was down 15-19 in the decider but he enjoyed a large slice of luck after that as his opponent, who appeared to be a great retriever for a major part of the match, committed a series of errors.

The unseeded Hemanth messed up his drops and frequently netted his smashes to help Ansal level at 20 and make a great escape a little later.

“The court was very slow on both sides,” said the 21-year-old left-handed Ansal after the 14-21, 21-17, 22-20 victory.

Meanwhile, Railway’s Kanika Kanwal, the women’s top seed, defeated Pavithra Naveen, who emerged as Kerala’s youngest State women’s champion a few months ago, 21-16, 21-17.

Air India’s unseeded Purva Barve packed off Goa’s third-seeded Anura Prabhudesai in another women’s opening round encounter.