Guwahati, Dec 6 (IANS) India’s rising women’s singles star Anmol Kharb kept her cool under relentless pressure to pack off defending champion Lalinrat Chaiwan of Thailand in the quarterfinals of the Guwahati Masters Super 100 badminton tournament here on Friday.
Kharb had fought back from 11-16 and 16-20 in the second game to earn two match points only to miss out. She faced a similar situation twice in the decider but this time, converted the second opportunity to win 21-13, 22-24, 22-20 in an hour and 14 minutes to advance to the semifinals. She will now face Mansi Singh, who defeated Thailand’s Yataweemin Kateklieng 22-20, 21-18, in an all-Indian semifinal.
Other Indians making it to the last-four stage included third seed Sathish Kumar Karunakaran in men’s singles and fifth seed Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto in mixed doubles. Sathish Kumar defeated Saran Jamsri of Thailand 21-19, 21-13 while Dhruv and Tanisha got the better of K. Sathwik Reddy and Vaishnavi Khadkekar 21-16, 21-14.
This is the second edition of the competition, organised jointly by the Badminton Association of India and Assam Badminton Association with the view of providing much-needed exposure to young Indian shuttlers.
Top seeds and defending champions Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto were the only Indian pair left in the fray in women’s doubles after beating China’s fifth seeds Huang Ke Xin and Tang Rui Zhi 21-18, 21-13 in the quarterfinals.
–IANS
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