Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap, Sameer Verma and the mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa notched up thrilling three-game wins to enter the quarterfinals of the India Open Super 500 World Tour badminton tournament on Thursday. Kashyap, who has been struggling to cross the opening round ever since recovering from his series of injuries, finally reached the quarterfinals of a major event after overcoming compatriot Shreyansh Jaiswal 21-19 19-21 21-12.
Coming back after recovering from a shoulder injury, Sameer also dished out an attacking game to see off former World No. 3 and 2014 World Championship bronze medallist Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia 21-18 19-21 21-17 in an hour and 20 minutes match.
Unseeded pair of Satwik and Ashwini then registered a stunning 21-16 15-21 23-21 win over third-seeded Malaysian combo of Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing. The duo blew four match points before recovering in time to reach their maiden quarterfinals of a major tournament.
Eighth-seeded Indian duo of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy also entered the quarterfinals after seeing off the Malaysian-Indian pair of Yogendran Khrishnan and Prajakta Sawant 21-10 21-19 in 32 minutes.
Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy too progressed to the last eight stage with a 21-11 21-15 win over compatriots Tushar Sharma and Chandrabhusan Tripathi.
Earlier, unheralded Mugdha Agrey's campaign ended with a 12-21 16-21 loss against fifth-seeded Beiwen Zhang of USA, while eighth-seeded Spaniard Beatriz Corrales ended Ruthvika Shivani Gadde's run with a 21-19 21-16 win.
Iceland International winners Rohan Kapoor and Kuhoo Garg also lost 10-21 11-21 to fifth-seeded Danish pair of Mathias Christiansen and Christinna Pedersen.
(With PTI Inputs)
