Badminton
Odisha Masters: Ashwini/Tanisha, Kiran George enter quarterfinals
Indian shuttlers continued their run in Odisha Masters as Ashwini Ponnappa/Tanisha Crasto entered the quarterfinals.
The action continued on the third day of the Odisha Masters 2023 which saw Ashwini Ponnappa/Tanisha Crasto, Unnati Hooda, Kiran George, Rutuparna Panda-Swetaparna Panda making progress to the next round here at the JN Indoor Stadium.
In the first high-octane clash of the day, Indian duo Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila were up against Indonesia’s Amri Syahnawi and Winny Oktavina Kandow in a Round of 16 Mixed Doubles match.
The Indian pair showed aggression right from the first point and took a 7-3 lead in an instant. The Indian pair closed down the first set with a score of 21-16. In the second set of the match, the Indian pair took a 13-4 lead and put their opponents on backfoot. The Indian pair entered the Quarterfinals as they won the match 21-16, 21-12.
Ashwini Ponnappa and Rohan Kapoor were up against Sumeeth Reddy (8) and Sikki Reddy in their Round of 16 Mixed Doubles match. In a match that saw momentum swinging continuously, Sumeeth and Sikki got the better of Ashwini-Rohan in the first set of the match with a score of 21-14.
At the beginning of the second set, Ashwini-Rohan started showing urgency and putting pressure on Sumeeth-Sikki. Ashwini-Rohan came out all guns blazing, galloping to an 11-9 lead as both the teams were involved in fiercely contested rallies multiple times at the interval. Ashwini-Rohan won the second set 21-17 to take the match in the decider.
In the decider, Ashwini-Rohan carried the momentum from the second set and took the lead early but Sumeeth-Sikki fought back and the score was 14-12 in favour of Sumeeth-Sikki at the interval. But, Sumeeth-Sikki closed down the game with a score of 21-14 and progressed to the Quarterfinals.
In other matches, Unnati Hooda won her match against Ashmita Chaliha with a score of 21-18, 21-16 to advance to the next round. Rutuparna Panda-Swetaparna Panda won their match against Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker to make it to the Quarterfinals. Former World No.1 Nozomi Okuhara won her match against Stephanie Widjaja with a score of 21-11 and 21-16. Chirag Sen won his match against Mads Christophersen with a score of 21-10, 15-21, and 21-17.
In the Women’s Doubles category, the pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto were up against Arul Bala Radhakrishnan and Varshini Viswanath Sri. The duo of Ashwini-Tanisha progressed to the next round with an easy 21-13 and 21-13 win over their opponents.
