Orleans Masters: Tanvi Sharma pips Anmol Kharb; Ayush Shetty exits

A good outing for the young Indian women's singles contingent as three players reached the quarterfinals of the Orleans Masters Super 300 in France on Thursday.

In an all-Indian matchup, the 17-year-old Tanvi Sharma defeated Anmol Kharb in straight games, 21-14, 21-17, to set up a quarterfinal clash against Japan's Natsuki Nidaira.

Following her, Malvika Bansod and Isharani Baruah also won their respective matches and will now meet each other in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Malvika defeated Malaysian shuttler Wong Ling Ching in straight games 24-22, 21-13, while Isharaini edged past Canada's Wen Yu Zhang in three games, 21-11, 14-21, 21-17.

In men's doubles, the Indian pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun also reached quarterfinals with a 26-24, 21-14 win over the Scottish pair of Alexander Dunn and Adam Pringle.

Ayush Shetty's poor form continues

India's lone competitor in the second round of men's singles, Ayush Shetty, faced a three-game defeat to lower-ranked Yudai Okimoto of Japan, 21-9, 18-21, 9-21.

Ayush had a good start to the match, winning the opening game dominantly and then was looking good for a straight-game win, having a 16-14 lead in the second game.

But then, the youngster made a couple of mistakes on the net and conceded the game, forcing a decider, where he looked very tired and couldn't offer much resistance.

This is Ayush's 6th consecutive early exit, and he is yet to reach a quarterfinal on the BWF World Tour this year, which highlights a major dip in his confidence.

On the other hand, the mixed doubles pair of Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde bowed down in three games, 21-19, 9-21, 14-21 to the top-seeded French pair.