Odisha Masters: Tharun Mannepalli, Tanvi Sharma reach finals

India's Tharun Mannepalli and Tanvi Sharma advanced to the men's and women's singles finals with contrasting wins at the Odisha Masters Super 100 in Bhubaneswar on Saturday.

Chasing her maiden Super 100 title, Tanvi, who won the Bonn International title earlier this year, outclassed compatriot Shriyanshi Valishetty 21-19, 21-19 in a hard-fought semifinal.

The 15-year-old will take on Chinese qualifier Cai Yan Yan, who won the Guwahati Masters last week, in the final.

In the men's singles semifinal, Tharun overcame a gritty fight from Sathish Kumar Karunakaran to reach the final with a 12-21, 21-19, 21-12 win.

Tharun will face off against fellow Indian shuttler Rithvik Sanjeevi Satish Kumar, who defeated Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul of Thailand 21-17, 21-14 in just 34 minutes to seal his spot in the final.

Doubles pairings falter

India's doubles pairings, however, failed to live up to their billing in the semifinals.

The mixed doubles duo of Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde - seeded second - put up a strong fight but went down to Singapore's Hee Yong Kai Terry and Jin Yu Jia 14-21, 21-18, 19-21.

In the women's doubles semifinal, the sixth-seeded duo of Gayatri Rawat and Mansa Rawat lost to Japan's Nanako Hara and Riko Kiyose 17-21, 14-21.

Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam - the fourth-seeded Indian duo - succumbed to a tough 7-21, 24-22, 17-21 loss to China's Keng Shu Liang and Wang Ting Ge.

In men's doubles, Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy and Sai Pratheek suffered a heartbreaking 21-16, 19-21, 20-22 defeat against Japan's Kakeru Kumagai and Hiroki Nishi in another closely contested semifinal.