Unnati Hooda and Tharun Mannepalli, along with Tanvi Sharma, Kiran George and Anupama Upadhyaya, progressed to the singles quarterfinals at the ongoing Odisha Masters BWF World Tour badminton tournament
held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Cuttack on Thursday.
In the women’s singles, top seed Hooda dominated Thailand’s Tidapron Kleebyeesun, winning 21-7, 21-14 in just 25 minutes to secure her quarterfinal spot. Tanvi joined her after defeating fellow Indian Aditi Bhatt 21-18, 22-20 in a hard-fought 33-minute match.
Anmol Kharb made an impressive comeback against Japan’s Shiori Ebihara, recovering from a 6-21 loss in the opening game to win the next two games 21-8, 21-13 in 46 minutes. Upadhyaya also advanced after her opponent retired in the third game.
Tasnim Mir, who caused a major upset on Wednesday, continued her strong performance against Japan’s qualifier Nanami Someya and is set to face seventh seed Tung Ciou-Tong of Chinese Taipei, who overcame India’s Aakarshi Kashyap 11-21, 21-8, 21-18 in a 66-minute match.
In the men’s singles, top seed Tharun moved into the quarterfinals with a 21-16, 12-21, 21-11 victory over Govind Krishna in 48 minutes. He will next face Indonesia’s Muhamad Yusuf. Indonesia’s Richie Duta Richardo caused an upset by defeating fourth seed Priyanshu Rajawat 21-12, 21-10. George advanced with a 21-12, 21-18 win over Dendi Triansyah and will compete against eighth seed Rithvik Sanjeevi in an all-Indian quarterfinal. Rounak Chouhan and S. Sankar Muthusamy also reached the last eight.
In doubles, World Junior Team Championships medallists Bhargav Ram Arigela and Viswa Tej Gobburu outplayed Nithin H.V. and Venkata Harsha Veeramreddy 18-21, 24-22, 21-17 to secure a quarterfinal berth. The fourth-seeded men’s doubles pair Pruthvi Krishnamurthy and Sai Pratheek, along with the women’s doubles teams Kavipriya Selvam/Simran Singhi and Ashwini Bhat/Shikha Gautam, also advanced.
In mixed doubles, fourth seeds Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh overcame Nitin Kumar and Ritika Thaker, winning 17-21, 21-13, 21-19 to reach the quarterfinals. Sathwik Reddy and Reshika Uthayasooryan also advanced with a confident 21-19, 21-12 victory over Par Tien Ann and Juliana Zefanya Gabriela in 28 minutes.
(With inputs from Agencies)
