Badminton
Thailand Open 2024: Satwik-Chirag and Ashwini-Tanisha into the quarters
Satwik-Chirag in men's doubles and Ashwini-Tanisha in women's doubles progressed to the quarterfinals of the Thailand Open with easy wins.
Satwik-Chirag and Ashwini-Tanisha in action at the quarters of Thailand Open 2024 (Photo Credit: BAI)
The top Indian doubles pairings of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in men's doubles, and Ashwini Ponappa and Tanisha Crasto in women's doubles, progressed to the quarterfinals of the Thailand Open with straight-game wins on Thursday.
Former world number one pair Satwik-Chirag made light work of the world number 69 Chinese duo Xie Hao Nan and Zeng Wei Han in a straight-game affair (21-16, 21-11) that lasted just 38 minutes.
The Chinese pair were constantly under threat from the powerful smashes of Satwik and Chirag, who dominated the rally from the start and didn't give their opponents an inch.
The Indian pair entered the tournament as the first-seeded pair and will now face the Malaysian duo of Junaidi Arif and Roy King Yap in the quarterfinals tomorrow.
On the other hand, Meiraba Luwang continued his impressive run in the tournament as he stunned the world-ranked 54 Danish player Mads Christophersen in straight games, 21-14, 22-20, and marched into his first-ever quarterfinals in a Super 500 tournament!
He faces a tough task in the quarters against the world champion and fourth-seeded home favorite, Kulavut Vitisdarn of Thailand.
Meanwhile, Ashmita Chaliha fought hard against the world number 7, Han Yue of China, before narrowly losing out in a close three-setter (15-21, 21-12, 12-21) in the round of 16 clash in women's singles.
The mixed doubles pairing of Satish Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath also exited in second round with a straight-set (19-21, 17-21) lose to second seed Indonesian pairing of Rivaldy and Mentari.
Although, the day ended on a high note for India as the women's doubles pairing of Ashwini Ponappa and Tanisha Crasto clinched a straight-game (21-19, 21-17) victory over Chinese Taipei pairing of Hung En-Tzu and Lin Yu-Pei.
The fourth seeded Indian pairing will now take on a tricky opponent in the quarterfinals as they will face the sixth seeded South Korean pairing of Lee Yu Lim and Shin Seung Chan tomorrow.
