KUWAIT CITY, Dec 13: Suresh & Faheem and Chandra & Jabbar continued to maintain their fine form to earn a place in the semifinals of the top-most category of the Indian Badminton Association – Kuwait (IBAK) doubles tournament at the Saad Al Awzi in Salwa, Friday. These two pairs had earned a place in the quarter-finals after some excellent performances in the Elimination Round which saw them top their respective sections. Joining them in the semifinals are Bader & Arif N.N. and Samson and Febin who had finished second in their sections to earn a spot in the quarter-finals which saw them put up contrasting performances. The tournament has now moved into the last stages of the event with all the remaining matches to be played on the coming Friday, before IBAK takes a break from competitive tournaments this year.

IBAK activities will, however, continue until the very end of this year with a Fun Day scheduled for December 29 and December 30 at the Julai’ia Beach Resort.Before that, on the coming Friday, all the coaches and trainees of a coaching program will be felicitated.
IBAK officials express their thanks to the participants of the current tournament and are now planning to host an inter-club event which will see the participation of some of the top clubs in the country.
This tournament will be without fees and the IBAK team of organizers hope to make it a prestigious event for all the clubs. They are also hoping to make it an annual event.

Meanwhile, IBAK is making preparations in a bid to send a team to take part in an age-group competition in Saudi Arabia next summer with the aim of providing the young trainees of coaching camps an opportunity to show their skills.
In another development, an IBAK team will soon be travelling to the Maldives to take part in an invitational tournament being hosted by the Dhanvaru Friendly Veterans Badminton Association of Maldives and organized by the Badminton Association of Maldives under the patronage of the Ministry of Youth & Sports.
The IBAK team will comprise of the Following: Dr Manimara Chizan, Mohan Menon, Faheem Contractor, Vivek Nair, Suresh Ramachandran, Noor Kalmatta, Mallu Chandramouli and Shyamsunder (the under-15 champion of IBAK Coaching Module 1).
In this connection, IBAK would like to thank Wataniya Telecom and Taiba Hospital for sponsoring the team to the Maldives.

Blue Tier
In Blue Tier quarter finals, Suresh and Faheem showed some real class when they wasted no effort to beat Shyam and James 21-17, 21-19 while Bader and Arif N.N. hammer Jiju John and Bastian in two easy sets 21-17, 21-18.
On of the other two quarter-finals saw Samson and Febin press on the accelerator in the last two sets to edge Dr Mani and Vivek 19-21, 21-15, 21-16 while the tandem of Chandra and Jabbar were made to sweat before they could outlast Anchal and Jim in extended 2 sets 21-15, 22-20.
All the quarter-finalists had qualified for the knockout stage of the event by finishing in the top four in the sections with the top pairs in each section playing the 4th placed squad in the second section and the 2nd placed pairs taking on the 3rd placed teams in the other section.
Earlier, in the Elimination Round, pairs winning their matches in two sets were awarded three points and the losers got none while the games ending in three sets saw the winners collect two points and the losers one.
Blue Tier Team A
Earlier in the last round of elimination under Blue Tier-Team A, Suresh and Faheem had topped in this section by winning all their seven matches to collect 18 points while Samson and Febin had taken second place with six wins for 17 points.
In this Friday’s games, Anchal and Jim tamed Roman and Maxi 21-10, 21-17 while Roman and Maxi broke sweat when they won by default against Anton and Aqis, Jiju John and Bastian overwhelmed Roman and Maxi 21-16, 21-17 and Suresh and Faheem were awarded a walk over against Anton and Aqis.
Elimination Round Standings
Blue Tier Team A
Ranking Names P W L Pts
1 Suresh & Faheem 7 7 0 18
2 Samson & Febin 7 6 1 17
3 Jiju John & Bastian 7 4 3 15
4 Anchal & Jim 7 4 3 12
5 Roman & Maxi 7 3 4 10
6 Anton & Aqis 7 2 5 6
7 Noor & Sunil 7 1 6 3
8 Danta &Yan 7 0 7 0
Blue Tier Team B
In this section, Chandra and Jabbar took the top spot after winning all their six matches to end the Elimination Round with 16 points while Bader and Arif N.N. ended with 15 points with five wins to their credit.
In the last matches of the Elimination Round, Chandra and Jabbar were stretched to the limit as they lost the first set before fighting back to beat Saju Thomas and Samson 19-21, 21-8, 21-16.
In the only other match of this round, Bader and Arif N.N. were at the top of their game to thrash Saju Thomas and Samson 21-11, 21-11.
Elimination Round Standings
Blue Tier Team B
Ranking Names P W L Pts
1 Chandra & Jabbar 6 6 0 16
2 Bader & Arif N.N 6 5 1 15
3 Dr Mani & Vivek 6 4 2 12
4 Shyam & James 6 3 3 8
5 Saju Thomas &
Samson 6 2 4 7
6 Mathew & Varun 6 1 5 5
7 Hanafi & Sampurna 6 0 6 0
Red Advance
In Red Advance quarter finals Ranjith and Pramod overpowered Mohammed and Hari 21-12, 21-13 while Noufal and Deepak crushed Tinu and Syju 21-9, 21-12.
In the other two matches, Samuel and Ronnie overcame Sajith and Jijo 21-16, 22-20 to win a place in the semifinals while the tandem of Imesh and Anish won by default against S. Sunder and Joyar.
Red Advance Team A
In Red Advance Team A, Ranjith and Pramod had topped the Elimination Round after collecting 16 points with five wins and one loss in their six matches. Samuel and Ronnie also finished the round with five wins and one loss but they managed to compile 14 points for second places after a number of their games finished in three sets.
Samuel and Ronnie achieved two wins, both in two sets, this Friday when they appeared to be in hurry to overcome Raja and Jovin 21-18, 23-21 before they hammered Tinu and Syju 21-18, 21-13 while the pair of Tinu and Syju were made to sweat as they bounced back after losing the second set to outlast Rogy and Davis 21-18, 18-21, 22-20.
Elimination Round Standings
Red Advance Team A
Ranking Names P W L Pts
1 Ranjith & Pramod 6 5 1 16
2 Samuel & Ronnie 6 5 1 14
3 Tinu & Syju 6 4 2 11
4 Imesh & Anish 6 3 3 7
6 Raja & Jovin 6 2 4 7
5 Rogy & Davis 6 2 4 7
7 Shyam & Lekha 6 0 6 1
Red Advance Team B
All the matches of this section were completed the previous week with S. Sunder taking the top spot after winning all their matches to collect 15 points while Noufal and Deepak had taken second place with 10 points after four victories in their five games.
Elimination Round Standings
Red Advance Team B
Ranking Names P W L Pts
1 S.Sunder & Joyar 5 5 0 15
2 Noufal & Deepak 5 4 1 10
3 Sajith & Jijo 5 3 2 9
4 Mohahammed & Hari 5 2 3 8
5 Pradeep & Sanal 5 0 5 0
5 Sanu & Binal 5 0 5 0
Red Intermediate
This was one of the most attended categories and the matches were quite close but when the points were tallied Tom and Ranjith were at the top with 24 points after winning all their matches while Anil and Anoop finished second with 19 points from six wins and two defeats.
With this category being played on a single round-robin all the top four pairs – Tom & Ranjith, Anil & Anoop, Rasheed & Sibi and Prasad & Saju—advanced directly into the semifinals.
In this week’s matches, Tom and Ranjith kept the driver’s seat with an unbeaten run including 3 matches they played on Friday when they thrashed Baburaj and Steve in back to back sets 21-7, 21-7 before outclassing Prasad and Saju 21-18, 21-16 and then overwhelmed Lathif and Hisham 21-13, 21-14.
Anil and Anoop claimed two wins when they wasted no time to beat Baburaj and Steve 21-7, 21-13 before they thumped Santhosh and Giri 21-13, 21-12.
Rasheed and Sibi accomplished 3 wins this week they worked hand in hand to tame Salim and Sajith 21-11, 21-12 before overcoming Baburaj and Steve 22-20, 21-6 and then brushing aside Lathif and Hisham 21-17, 21-11.
Prasad and Saju generated 2 wins when they outclassed Salim and Sajith 21-12, 21-16 and then thumped Lathif and Hisham 21-16, 21-15.
The tandem of Shalu John and Relin gained two wins when they brushed aside Santhosh and Giri 21-9, 21-13 before they outlasted Lathif and Hisham 21-13, 14-21, 21-14.
On the other hand three pairs did not go home empty handed as `Salim and Sajith edged Santhosh and Giri 21-12, 10-21, 21-14 while Lathif and Hisham tamed Baburaj and Steve 21-19, 21-14 and the pair of Santhosh and Giri won by default against Lathif and Hisham.
Elimination Round Standings
Red Intermediate
Ranking Names P W L Pts
1 Tom & Ranjith 8 8 0 24
2 Anil & Anoop 8 6 2 19
3 Rasheed & Sibi 8 6 2 18
4 Prasad & Saju 8 5 3 15
5 Shalu John & Relin 8 5 3 12
6 Salim & Sajith 8 2 6 7
7 Lathif & Hisham 8 2 6 6
8 Santhosh & Giri 8 1 7 5
9 Baburaj & Steve 8 1 7 2
Green Tier
In Green Tier the following qualified for the semifinals: Saikrishnan and Nithin; Anirudh and Gokul; Neha and Shaina; and Vineeth with Sayooj.
Saikrishnan and Nithin, who led the Elimination Round with 5 wins and 16 points, won one match this week when they hammered Shobha and Preetha 21-7, 21-8.
Shobha and Preetha retaliated and outlasted Nikhil and Anzeem 15-21, 21-14, 21-8 while Niyati and Nivedha won by default against Anirudh and Gokul but the losers in the second game still finished second in the Elimination Round after collecting five wins and one loss in their six matches top compile 14 points.
Elimination Round Standings
Green Tier
Ranking Names P W L Pts
1 Saikrishnan & Nithin 6 5 1 16
2 Anirudh & Gokul 6 5 1 14
3 Neha & Shaina 6 3 3 10
4 Vineeth & Sayooj 6 3 3 8
5 Shobha & Preetha 6 3 3 7
6 Nikhil & Anzeem 6 1 5 5
7 Niyati & Nivedha 6 1 5 3