Cuttack, Dec 14 (PTI) India’s Tanvi Sharma and Tharun Mannepalli kept alive their hopes of maiden Super 100 crowns, advancing to the women’s and men’s singles finals with contrasting victories at the Odisha Masters Super 100 badminton tournament here on Saturday.
The 15-year-old Tanvi, who claimed the Bonn International title earlier this year, defeated compatriot Shriyanshi Valishetty 21-19, 21-19 in a hard-fought semifinal. She will face Chinese qualifier Cai Yan Yan, who recently won the Guwahati Masters title, in the final.
In the men’s singles, Tharun, runner-up at the Senior National Championships, overcame, beat sixth seed Sathish Kumar Karunakaran 12-21, 21-19, 21-12 in another all-Indian semifinal.
He will take on compatriot Rithvik Sanjeevi Satish Kumar, who dispatched eighth seed Thai player Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul 21-17, 21-14 in just 34 minutes, to secure his spot in the final.
Disappointment in Doubles ===================== India’s doubles pairs, however, had a disappointing day in the semifinals.
In the mixed doubles, second seeds Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde put up a valiant fight but narrowly lost to Singapore’s sixth seeds Hee Yong Kai Terry and Jin Yu Jia 14-21, 21-18, 19-21.
In the women’s doubles, the sixth-seeded duo of Gayatri Rawat and Mansa Rawat fell to Japan’s Nanako Hara and Riko Kiyose 17-21, 14-21.
Fourth seeds Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam’s impressive campaign also ended in a tough 7-21, 24-22, 17-21 loss to China’s Keng Shu Liang and Wang Ting Ge.
The men’s doubles pair of Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy and Sai Pratheek endured a heartbreaking 21-16, 19-21, 20-22 defeat against Japan’s Kakeru Kumagai and Hiroki Nishi in another closely contested semifinal. PTI ATK ATK AH AH
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