Gopi Chand wins, Aparna crashes out

BIRMINGHAM, March 11: National champion Pulella Gopichand scored a fluent win over Kasper Fangel of Denmark while other Indians fared badly in the second round of the All England Badminton Championships here today.

Gopichand, world ranked 33, demolished the unseeded Dane in straight games 15-4 15-1 to move into the third round. National runner-up Abhin Shyam Gupta, up against a much superior and seeded Malaysian Ong Ewe Hock, went down without much of a fight in straight sets at 4-15 4-15.

Women’s national champion Aparna Popat fought hard in the second game before losing to unseeded Danish number two Mette Pederson, twice in the space of a week, 1-11 10-12.

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Aparna had succumbed to Mette in the pre-quarterfinals of the Ericsson Swedish Open Badminton in Borlange last week.

The Indian number one, went down down tamely in the first game. But she staged a remarkable fightback before losing on extra points.