Kiran George Upsets World No.13 Toma Junior Popov; Lakshya, Rakshitha Reach Quarterfinals

Star Indian men’s singles shuttler Kiran George stunned world No.13 Toma Junior Popov of France to reach the men’s singles quarterfinals of the USD 475,000 Hylo Open Super 500 badminton tournament on Thursday.

World No.38 Kiran, son of former national champion George Thomas, delivered a gritty performance to outwit eighth seed Popov 18-21, 21-18, 21-19 in a 69-minute thriller.

Kiran, who trains at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, last reached a Super 750 quarterfinal at the India Open in January.

A two-time Super 100 winner, having claimed the 2022 Odisha Open and 2023 Indonesia Masters, Kiran will next face either second seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia or Chinese Taipei’s Chi Yu Jen.

Earlier, Lakshya Sen and Rakshitha Ramesh bagged their spots in the men’s and women’s singles quarters with contrasting wins.

Lakshya, the 2021 World Championships bronze medallist, eased past compatriot S Subramanian 21-14, 21-11, while Rakshitha overcame Shriyanshi Valishetty 19-21, 21-8, 21-13 in another all-Indian contest that lasted 58 minutes.

Lakshya will face fourth seed Alex Lanier of France next, while Rakshitha is all set to meet Denmark’s sixth seed Line Christophersen.

Kiran had earlier shocked world No. 1 Shi Yu Qi of China in 2023. However, a series of injuries and narrow defeats had hindered his progress.

On Thursday, Kiran had to catch up after falling behind early. Despite coming close at 16-17, Popov managed to win the opening game.

After the change of ends, Kiran raced to a 7-1 lead, leaving Toma to erase a huge deficit. The latter fought back to 19-18, but Kiran did not make any mistakes and forced the match into a decider.

In the third game, Kiran trailed 6-11, raising doubts of another missed chance, but he displayed nerves of steel to claw his way back to 15-16 before turning the tables at 19-17 and sealing his win against Popov.

In another men’s singles pre-quarterfinal, Ayush Shetty will face sixth seed and former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore.

(With PTI Inputs)