Chief minister Tarun Gogoi poses with badminton players at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium on Monday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, Dec. 3: India’s Utsav Mishra caused an upset in the men’s draw on the first day of the India International Challenge Badminton Championship at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium today.

Mishra shocked fifth seed Dinuka Karunaratne of Sri Lanka 21-13, 21-11 in a second round match.

He next plays Indonesian Ian Jovic Rien, who defeated Attique Mohammad of Pakistan 21-8, 21-12.

Barring sixth seed Nikhil Kanetkar, who had to face a strong fightback from Pakistan opponent Hashir Bashir for a 21-14, 11-21, 21-11 second round-win to book a pre-quarters berth, the other seeded players cruised ahead in their respective matches without any hitches.

The withdrawal of the Afghanistan team and a few players from India, Bangladesh and Nepal, including fourth seed Anand Pawar of India, has reduced several scheduled matches of the first and second rounds to walkovers.

According to sources, a number of players and tournament officials pulled out of the tournament after the recent unrest in Assam.

The organisers had to rush in international referee H. Gyaneswor Singh of Manipur to conduct the tournament after running short of technical officials. Three shuttlers from Assam today bid adieu to the men’s draw. Anshuman Hazarika, who tamed Bangladesh opponent Md Rias Uddin 21-16, 21-2 in the first round, went down to Wajid Ali of Pakistan 17-21, 16-21.

Nikilesh Sarma prevailed over Nepal opponent Bishal Pradhan 21-16, 22-20 in the first round and then went down to compatriot Sagar Chopra 21-15, 21-12 in the second.

Hirakjyoti Neog lost to seventh seed Li Qun Chong of Malaysia 11-21, 14-21 in the second round.

In the women’s singles draw, Thilini Jayasinghe of Sri Lanka outplayed Abantika Deka 21-13, 21-16. Assam’s Bibari Basumatary went down fighting to Thilini Jayasinghe of Sri Lanka 18-21, 21-14, 23-21 in the women’s singles. Basumatary had defeated Sara Mohmand of Pakistan 21-14, 21-14.

In the mixed doubles, however, Anshuman Hazarika and Rimi Hazarika of Assam marched into the quarterfinals, defeating the Anil Kumar Lakhe and Nary Thapa tandem of Nepal 21-11, 21-11 in the first round. The Assam pair entered the mixed doubles semifinals tonight after getting a walkover over their Bangladesh rivals Saif Uddin and Shapla Aktar.

Top seed Saina Nehwal of India beat Aparna Balan 21-10, 21-10 to enter the quarterfinals.

Top men’s seed Chetan Anand of India also had a smooth sailing, beating Evert Sukamta of Indonesia 21-11, 21-16 to enter the pre-quarters in the men’s singles.

Chief minister Tarun Gogoi inaugurated the three-day tournament this evening.

Former All England champion P. Gopichand was feted at the opening ceremony.

and appreciated the efforts of the Assam Badminton Association in organising the first international badminton event in the state. He also thanked the Badminton Asia Confederation and Badminton Association of India for allowing Guwahati to host the event.Former All England champion P. Gopichand was feted at the opening ceremony.