KUWAIT CITY, Oct 5: The competition was close, the rallies long and all the participants very determined to show their best, resulting in a number of players sharing the top spot in the Indian Badminton Association — Kuwait (IBAK)-PSC Open Doubles Tourna-ment which kicked off at the Qadsiya Complex in Hawally Friday. The organizing team for this event is being led by IBAK President Dr Manimara Chozhan, with a lot of support from all his officebearers who are committed to producing quality tournaments for all the members and non-members of the organization, which has seen its membership climb to over 500 since its birth in June this year. The tournament has been divided into six categories — Blue Tier, Red Tier — Pool A and B, Green Tier and Yellow Tier Pool A and B – with all the players placed in these groupings according to their game. Blue Tier is the top-most category which includes the best players and the matches being played for a running score of 21 while the rest of the other classes are seeing competition over 15 points except in case of a tie when there is a slide to 17 points to decide the winner.

Blue Tier
Three pairs showed some real class in their opening matches to share the driver’s seat with 2 wins and 4 points each. Suresh Ramachandaran and Bader Kalliparambu were made to sweat before they could edge Anil Lakhotia and Abdul Jabbar 21-11, 20-22, 21-18 before they fought for every point to outlast Matthews Jacob and Roman Alekseev 23-22, 12-21, 21-11in their second game. Joining Suresh and Bader in the lead were the pair of IBAK President Manimara “Doc Mani” Chozhan and Noor Kalamatta who overwhelmed Ravikumar and Somesh Daga 21-19, 21-16 in their first match and had an easy time also in their second game as they thumped Mohamed Arief and Sreekumar G. 21-18, 21-15. The tandem of Sunil Moorkanat and Faheem Contractor were among the leaders when they first brushed aside Ravikumar and Somesh Daga 21-19, 21-17 before putting their best foot forward to edge Chandramaouli and Ravishankar in a seesaw battle 22-20, 17-21, 21-16.

While these players had played and won two matches each for a share of the top spot, there were three other pairs which had won the same number of matches but had played one match more.
Among these competitors was the pair of Mathews Jacob and Roman Alekseev who blended well on the courts to thump Jiju John and Bastin X in back to back sets 21-16, 21-16 before taming Ravikumar and Somesh Daga 21-17, 21-18 in their next game.
Jiju John and Bastin X fought back after their initial defeat and proved that they were no less players, moving their game up a notch, to hammer Binal Markose and Sanu Thammaiah 21-8, 21-14 before overpowering Mohamed Arief and Sreekumar G. 21-13, 21-12 in their next match.
Later that day, Anil Lakhotia and Abdul Jabbar came out with a game plan after suffering a close defeat in their first match to outlast Chandramaouli and Ravishankar 20-22, 21-16, 21-14 before wasting no time to beat Mohamed Arief and Sreekumar G. 21-18, 21-15.
Meanwhile, the tandem of Chandramaouli and Bader Kalliparambu did not go home empty handed when they wasted no effort to thrash Binal Markose and Sanu Thammaiah in 2 easy sets 21-8, 21-15.

Initial standings
Blue Tier GP W Pts
Suresh R. & Bader Kalliparambu 2 2 4
Dr Manimara C. & Noor Kalamatta 2 2 4
Sunil M. & Faheem Contractor 2 2 4
Mathews J. and Roman Alekseev 3 2 4
Jiju J. & Bastin X 3 2 4
Anil L. & Abdul Jabbar 3 2 4
Chandramouli & Ravishankar 3 1 2
Binal M. & Sanu Thammaiah 2 0 0
Ravikumar & Somesh D 3 0 0
Mohamed Arief & Sreekumar G. 3 0 0

Red Tier – Pool A
In the Red Tier-Pool A the competition was also very tough and at the end of the first day two pairs were sharing the top spot with 3 wins and 6 points each.
Jim and Gilto blended well on the courts to brush aside Dr Vijay and Shyam S. 15-11, 15-12, before overcoming Unnikrishnan P.K. and Sajith S. in back to back sets 16-14, 16-14 and one of the matches was won by default.
Tandem of Arun Rajagopalan and Mohan shared the limelight when they overwhelmed Vijay Shirhatti and Shyam Sadhwani 15-13, 15-10 before they outlasted Unnikrishnan P.K. and Sajith S. 15-11, 13-15, 15-9 and then brushed aside Jovin Jacob and Joyar D’Souza 15-10, 17-16.
Meanwhile, Majunath and Chan Basha Sheikh acquired 2 wins and 4 points when they wasted no effort to thrash Sai Devanand and Sarosh Daruwalla 15-8, 15-8 before fighting back after a first-set loss to Harinath Gadikota and Rajeev Philip to take the game 14-16, 15-11, 15-7.
Jovin Jacob and Joyar D’Souza bounced back after their initial defeat to beat Sai Devanand and Sarosh Daruwalla 15-10, 15-13, while the tandem of Vijay Shirhatti and Shyam Sadhwani did not go home empty handed when they overwhelmed Sai Devanand and Sarosh Daruwalla 15-12, 15-7.
In the other matches, Harinath Gadikota and Rajeev Philip thrashed Kalyan Hariharan and Mohammad Shanu 15-0, 15-0 while Unnikrishnan and P.K. and Sajith S. made Harinath and Rajeev an easy target when they beat them easily 15-5, 15-8.

Initial standings
Red – Pool A GP W Pts
Jim & Gilto 3 3 6
Arun Rajagopalan & Mohan 3 3 6
Manjunath & Chan Basha Sheikh 2 2 4
Jovin Jacob & Joyar D’Souza 2 1 2
Vijay Shirhatti & Shyam Sadhwani 2 1 2
Harinath Gadikota & Rajeev Philip 3 1 2
Unnikrishnan P.K. & Sajith S. 3 1 2
Kalyan Hariharan & Md. Shanu 2 0 0
Sai Devanand & Sarosh Daruwalla 3 0 0

Red Tier – Pool B
In Red Tier-Pool B, after the day’s scores had been tallied two pairs were sharing the lead with 3 wins and 6 points each.
Suresh C. Pillai and Biju Chacko proved that they are one of the best pairs in this category as they wasted no time to beat Tom Jacob and Oommen Am. 15-8, 15-12 before fighting for every point to edge Subramoniam P. and Sunil Kumar P. 14-16, 15-13, 16-14. In their last match, Pillai and Chacko were at their best as they blasted Girish and Giri 15-12, 15-6.
The tandem of Lekha Ramachandran and Amina had a share of the driver’s seat when they outlasted Raju Xavier and Nubin Nelson 15-9, 12-15, 15-11, before fighting back after a first-set loss to Girish and Giri to win 15-10, 13-15, 15-9. In their last game Ramachandran and Amina outlasted Subramoniam P. and Sunil Kumar P. 9-15, 17-16, 15-11.
Manoj Kuriakose and Robin Philip pulled off 2 wins and 4 points when they first crushed Raju Xavier and Nubin Nelson 15-12, 15-4 before thumping Tom Jacob and Oommen M. 17-15, 15-7.
On the other hand, there are number of pairs who did not go empty handed with the tandem of Supreeth Shambu and Morrison John along with the pair of Subramoniam and Sunil and the combination of Raju with Anil scoring easy victories by default.
Meanwhile, Unnikrishnan and Sudhakar fought wisely to edge Girish and Giri 15-6, 13-15, 15-10 while Tom Jacob and Oommen M. outlasted Unnikrishnan and Sudhakar 17-16, 8-15, 15-10.

Initial standings
Red – Pool B GP W Pts
Suresh C. Pillai & Biju Chacko 3 3 6
Lekha Ramachandran & Amina 3 3 6
Manoj Kuriakose & Robin Philip 2 2 4
Supreeth Shambhu & Morrison John 1 1 2
Unnikrishnan M. & Sudhakar K. 2 1 2
Tom Jacob & Oommen M. 3 1 2
Subramoniam P. & Sunil kumar P. 3 1 2
Raju Xavier & Nubin Nelson 3 1 2
Anil P. Ceriyan & Sabu Joju 3 0 0
Girish & Giri 3 0 0

Green Tier
In the Green Tier, a number of competitors were sharing the top spot with three pairs acquiring 3 wins and 6 points each.
Ajayakumar Vasudevan and Prasad Thandachery wasted no effort to beat Kiran Viswanathan and Breeto 15-10, 15-9, before they were made to sweat to edge Nanda J.M. and Baburaj 15-11, 13-15, 17-15 and one of their matches was won by default.
Faiz Foizen and Aun Foizen were also had a share of the lead when they hammered Santosh Narayanan and Ashir in back to back sets 15-8, 15-8, before brushing aside Nanda J.M. and Baburaj 15-7, 15-13 while their last game was won by default.
The 3rd pair who were at the top of the standings are Srinivas Sreedhara and Thomas Moolayail who worked hand in hand to edge Kiran and Breeto 16-14, 16-17, 15-10 before overpowering Gita and Anusha D’Souza 15-8, 15-8 and winning their last match by default.
Nanda J.M. and Baburaj accomplished 2 wins when they thumped Suhail and Mohsin 15-10, 15-6 in their first match and overcoming Gita and Anusha in back to back set 15-12, 15-12 in the second game.
Santosh Narayanan and Ashir thrashed Gita and Anusha 15-4, 15-9 while the tandem of Kiran Viswanathan and Breeto outlasted Suhail and Mohsin 10-15, 15-9, 15-10.

Initial standings
Green Tier GP W Pts
Ajayakumar V. & Prasad T. 3 3 6
Faiz Foizen & Aun Foizen 3 3 6
Srinivas Sreedhara & Thomas M. 3 3 6
Nanda J.M. & Baburaj 4 2 4
Santosh Narayanan & Ashir 2 1 2
Kiran Viswanathan & Breeto 3 1 2
Suhail & Mohsin 2 0 0
Gita D’Souza & Anusha D’Souza 3 0 0
Mubin Baji & Sridhar Srinivasan 3 0 0

Yellow Tier – Pool A
In the Yellow Tier-Pool A, number of new faces made their mark to take a share of the top spot with 2 wins and 4 points.
Vineet Baburaj and Mohammad Zoheb put in their best effort to edge Sayooj Ajaikumar and Nikhil Santosh in a seesaw battle 15-13, 14-16, 15-9 before wasting no effort and hardly breaking any sweat to crush Soumya Bhatla and Kaira Revan 15-3, 15-4.
The tandem of Neha Sathish and Shaina Ajaykumar were also in the lead when they overwhelmed Rohaina Tanveer and Tanveer Sheikh 15-9, 15-7 and thumped Fatema Foizen and Sarvat Faraaz 15-7, 15-6.
Aparna and Karthika Ullas blended well on the courts and joined the leaders when they wasted no effort to thrash Soumya and Kaira 15-4, 15-2 but they were made to work hard and shed a lot of sweat before they could edge Sayooj and Nikhil 15-8, 11-15, 15-6.
Fatema Foizen and Sarvat Faraaz did not go home empty handed when they bounced back and hammered Nida Tanveer and Sana Foizen 15-5, 15-6 while Rohaina Tanveer and Tanveer Sheikh outlasted Sayooj and Nikhil 15-12, 11-15, 16-14 and Soumya Bhatla with Kaira Revan overpowered Nida Tanveer and Sana Foizen 15-12, 15-7.

Initial standings
Yellow Tier – Pool A GP W Pts
Vineet B. & Mohd. Zoheb 2 2 4
Neha S. & Shaina Ajaykumar 2 2 4
Aparna U. & Karthika Ullas 2 2 4
Fatema F. & Sarvat Faraaz 2 1 2
Rohaina & Tanveer Sheikh 2 1 2
Soumya B. & Kaira Revan 3 1 2
Nida T. & Sana Foizen 2 0 0
Sayooj A. & NIkhil Santosh 3 0 0

Yellow Tier Pool- B
Nithin Subramoniam and Nitin Prince were alone in the driver’s seat in Yellow Tier Pool-B when they scored 3 wins and 6 points as they brushed aside Ashutosh Bathla and Hussein 15-5, 15-6, overcame Johan P. Manoj and Sai Krishnan in 2 extended sets 15-12, 16-14 and thumped Danish Contractor and Mohamed Anzeem 15-4, 15-5.
The tandem of Priya Ullas and Aparna Subramaniam acquired 2 wins and 4 points when they tamed Chryzan and Clara Fernandes 15-13, 15-12 but they seemed to be in a hurry to finish the next match as they thrashed Aishwaria Ullas and Nivedha Manimaran 15-2, 15-1.
Chryzan and Clara Fernandes put their act together and brushed aside Aishwaria and Nivedha 15-10, 15-4 before taming Ashutosh and Hussein 15-10, 15-9.
On the other hand, Danish Contractor and Mohamed Anzeem did not go home empty handed when they pressed down hard on the accelerator to outlast Aishwaria and Nivedha 15-8, 16-14, 15-12 while Rajeshwari and Vishaka overwhelmed Aishwaria and Nivedha 15-8, 15-9.

Initial standings
Yellow Tier – Pool B GP W Pts
Nithin S. & Nitin Prince 3 3 6
Priya U. & Aparna Subramaniam 2 2 4
Chryzan F. & Clara Fernandes 3 2 4
Danish C. & Mohamed Anzeem 2 1 2
Rajeshwari & Vishaka 4 1 2
Johann P Manoj & Sai Krishnan 1 0 0
Ashutosh Bhatla & Hussein 2 0 0
Aishwaria Ullas & Nivedha M. 4 0 0