Our Sports Reporter
GUWAHATI: Local favorite Isharani Baruah, seeded eighth in the women’s singles category, bowed out from the Guwahati Masters Super 100 Badminton tournament after a closely contested match against India’s Asian Championship star Anmol Kharab at the Nabin Chandra Bordoloi Indoor Stadium here on Wednesday. Despite a valiant effort, Isharani succumbed to a 21-10, 18-21, 21-18 defeat.
In the mixed doubles, Assam’s Suraj Goala, paired with Navdha Manglam, also suffered a loss in their opening match against Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh with a score line of 21-12, 21-12.
Meanwhile top seed Priyanshu Rajawat was made to sweat by compatriot Arya Bhivpathki in men’s singles second round while the young Tanvi Sharma packed off seventh seed Tanya Hemanth to advance to the women’s singles pre-quarters.
Rajawat fought back from 11-16 and then saved a game point in the opening game to beat Bhivpathki 22-20, 21-14 in 35 minutes, while Tanvi defeated Tanya 21-18, 21-14 to advance.
In the paired event, mixed doubles top seeds Satish Kumar Karunakaran and Adya Variyath along with fifth seeds Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto stayed on course for a possible showdown in the quarterfinals. The top seeds defeated Nithin HV and Anagha Pai 21-14, 21-10 while Dhruv and Tanisha got the better of the Chinese combination of Liao Pin Yi and Huang Ke Xin 22-20, 21-19.
And just like Tanvi, up and coming youngster Shriyanshi Valishetty also grabbed the opportunity to impress with a 21-19, 21-14 win over Unnati Hooda.
.In the day’s other matches, Tasnim Mir squandered two match points and then saved two herself before defeating compatriot Ira Sharma 21-13, 19-21, 24-22 in just under an hour. She will now face defending champion Lalinrat Chaiwan of Thailand, who comfortably beat Tanishq MP 21-5, 21-7.
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.
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