Top seeds Unnati Hooda, Dhruv Negi and Anmol Kharb advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the Badminton Asia Under-17 and Under-15 Junior Championships in Nonthaburi, Thailand on Wednesday.
Odisha Open champions Unnati and Anmol registered easy wins in the women’s singles while Uttarakhand’s Anmol had to sweat it out against Thailand’s Panya Phutiphresakul in the men’s singles to win 21-14 17-21 21-15.
Unnati beat Indonesia’s Diya Nura Fadila 21-7 21-11 in straight games while Haryana-born Anmol registered a 21-12 21-19 win against Thailand’s Ratanacha Sompoch.
Nir Nehwal was the only Indian player to face defeat in the Under-17 category. He lost 21-11 9-21 19-21 to Japan’s Kazuma Kawano in the men’s singles round of 32 despite fighting hard.
In the Under-15 singles category, Mohammad Ali Mir, Ishita Negi and three other Indians advanced to the round of 32 on the second day of the tournament.
Mohammed Ali and Ganana Dattu registered straight game wins against Thailand’s Paramat Pumleng and Hong Kong’s Cheung Sei Sing. In the men’s section, Ali beat Paramat 21-16 21-18 while Dattu got the better of Cheung Sei 21-11 21-13.
Anish Thopani defeated ninth seed Maharishil Gain of Indonesia 21-14 18-21 23-21 in a hard-fought match.
In the women’s section, fifth seed Ishita beat Thailand’s Lada Na Nakorn 21-9 21-12 in a one-sided match, while Sampriti Pal crashed out of Japan’s Riya Haga 21-16 21-16.
Abhinav Garg, Suhasi Verma and Tanvi Sharma faced defeat in the Under-15 category.
In the first round match of the Under-15 men’s doubles, the pair of Bjorn Jason and Aatish Srinivas PV defeated Sri Lankan women Jayaweera and Janisha Sethuhewa 21-18 21-17.
Due to the pandemic, this continental competition is being held after two years. This competition will run till December 4.
Credit: bharat.republicworld.com /