Badminton
Sai Praneeth enters Thailand Masters quarters; George, Ashmita bow out
B Sai Praneeth entered the quarter finals of Thailand Masters while Kiran George and Ashmita Chaliha bowed out in pre-quarters.
India's B Sai Praneeth defeated Korean qualifier Hyeok Jin Jeon in a tough three-game contest to enter the quarterfinals of the Thailand Open Super 300 badminton tournament on Thursday.
Praneeth beat his Korean opponent 24-22 7-21 22-20 in the men's singles second round match.
He will next face sixth seed Li Shi Feng of China in the last eight round.
Earlier in the day, Kiran George and Ashmita Chaliha put up gallant fights before going down in three games in the second round of their respective events.
While George, Odisha Open champion, went down 22-20 15-21 20-22 to third seed Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong in men's singles, Ashmita lost 21-19 13-21 27-29 to sixth seeded Den Højmark Kjaersfeldt of Denmark in a gruelling women's singles round of 16 match.
Eighth seeds Tanisha Crasto and Ishaan Bhatnagar suffered a 19-21 16-21 loss to Indonesia's Akbar Bintang Cahyono and Marsheilla Gischa Islami in mixed doubles.
N Sikki Reddy and Rohan Kapoor also couldn't cross the second round, losing 11-21 10-21 to sixth seeded Chinese Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping.
