Hafiz, Kusuma, Sridhar and Rangga hit form in India Club badminton

Malaysian ace and former All-England champion Hafiz had to use his vast reservoirs of experience and skills to see off the slightly erratic Siddharth Thakur.

Promising Dubai-based player Mohammed Munawar went down fighting against Adi Kusuma Admaja of Indonesian. — Supplied photo

Dubai — Muhammad Hafiz Hashim and Anup Sridhar carved out contrasting quarterfinal victories on Wednesday night in the Global Hawk Imaging & Diagnostocs LLC 38th India Club Open Badminton Tournament.

Malaysian ace and former All-England champion Hafiz had to use his vast reservoirs of experience and skills to see off the slightly erratic Siddharth Thakur, the Indian number eleven, 21-23, 21-9, 21-11 after suffering a first set reversal when Thakur smashed through his opponent’s flanks.

Next to the semis was the ‘open’ category champion Imam Adi Kusuma Admaja of Indonesian whose 21-16, 16-21, 21-19 victory against Mohammed Munawar was the night’s showcase match.

Kusuma, a former ranked junior in Indonesia and a coach in Dubai currently, used his variations in speed and returns to the mid court and at the net cleverly, to oust the Dubai-based Munawar who is highly ranked in Kerala.

Dea Adi Rangga, runner-up to Kusuma in the ‘open’ last weekend had fewer problems while overcoming Malaysian under 19 hopeful Nur Izzuddin Rumsani 21-18, 21-8. Adi was in top gear throughout especially in the second set which saw him consistently maintain an immaculate length and line when returning from the baseline.

Former two-time Indian national champion, veteran Sridhar, downed Bangalore team-mate Mohit Kamat 21-14, 21-11 in the last of the quarterfinal fixtures, a match that provided the large gathering at the Hova covered parquet facility with precise smashing and beautiful net play.

The men’s doubles, still in the IPL styled playoff stages for the quarterfinal berths, saw Munawar in combination with Nandagopal Kidambi, brother of Srikanth Kidambi, the world top 10 star from India, overcame the more fancied and seasoned Sridhar and Kamat 21-15, 8-21, 21-14.

The scratch pair went through phases of lack of concentration and errors before inflicting defeat on Sridhar and Kamat during the intense battle of smashes and subtle half court returns.

In another qualifier, Hafiz paired up with Zairul Hafiz Zainudin to subdue the young Izzuddin-Mohamad Razlan Shah pair 12-21, 21-11, 21-19, with the first and second sets being fought out ferociously.

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