RMV Gurusaidutt, Sourabh Varma and PC Thulasi have all qualified for the round of eight of the Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold Badminton at Pasir Gudang on Thursday in Nagpur.
While Gurusaidutt breezed past his Malaysian opponent Seng Zoe Yeoh in straight games (21-17, 21-13), Varma had to do it the hard way against the difficult ninth seed Kazumasa Sakai of Japan, in what turned out to be a marathon qualifier (21-15, 17-21, 21-19).
World number 30, Gurusaidutt, who was making a come back after a long injury layoff, showed no signs of lethargy, which bodes well for him and the country going forward.
In the women’s singles, PC Thulasi overcame her Gopichand Academy practice partner - Tanvi Lad, who could not prevent the eventual final game defeat.
Elsewhere, the unseeded pair of Arun Vishnu and Alwin Francis extended their sublime run with yet another victory.
Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Siki Reddy beat Chinese Taipei’s Po Han Yang and Hung Yu Chen to enter mixed doubles the quarters (21-13, 17-21, 21-14).
RESULTS:
Men’s singles (Round 2): 12-B Sai Praneeth bt Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub (MAS) 16-21, 21-7, 21-4; 7-HS Prannoy bt Riichi Takeshita (JPN) 21-17, 25-23; 8-Sourabh Varma bt Chetan Anand 21-14, 21-17; 6-RMV Gurusaidutt bt Seng Zoe Yeoh (MAS) 21-17, 21-13; Anup Sridhar lost to 9-Kazumasa Sakai (JPN) 13-21, 11-21;Aditya Prakash lost to 15-Simon Santoso (INA) 17-21, 10-21.
Round 3: 8-Souarbh Varma bt 9-Kazumasa Sakai (JPN) 21-15, 17-21, 21-19; 6-RMV Gurusaidutt bt Wisnu Yuli Prasetyo (INA) 23-21, 21-9; 7-HS Prannoy lost to 10-Nan Wei (HKG) 9-21, 21-17, 18-21.
Women’s singles (Round 2): PC Thulasi bt Tanvi Lad 21-2, 17-21, 21-18.
Women’s doubles (Round 2): 8-Prajakta Sawant-Arathi Sara Sunil lost to Dongni Ou-Mengjing Xiong (CHN) 2-21, 5-13 (retired).
Men’s doubles (Round 2): Alwin Francis-Arun Vishnu bt Wannawat Ampunsuwan-Patiphat Chalardchaleam 17-21, 21-19, 21-19.
Mixed doubles (Round 1): 8-Pranaav Jerry Chopra-N Siki Reddy bt Chee Tean Tan-Shevon Jemie Lai 21-16, 21-14; 6-Arun Vishnu-Aparna Balan lost to Fai Yin Wong-Mei Kuan Chow (MAS) 19-21, 7-21; Prajakta Sawant-Vountus Indra Mawan (MAS) lost to Mohd Lutfi Zaim Abdul Khalid-Fie Cho Soong (MAS) 14-21, 13-21.
Round 2: 8-Pranaav Chopra-Siki Reddy bt Po Han Yang-Hung Yu Chen (TPE) 21-13, 17-21, 21-14.
Quarterfinal fixtures:
Men’s singles: 8-Sourabh Varma vs 3-Tien Chen Chou (TPE); 6-Gurusaidutt vs 2-Wei Feng Chong (MAS).
Women’s singles: PC Thulasi vs Adrianti Firdasari (INA).
Men’s doubles: Alwin Francis-Arun Vishnu vs 2-Shem Goh-Khim Wah Lim (MAS).
Mixed doubles: 8-Pranaav Chopra-Siki Reddy vs 2-Edi Subaktiar-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja (INA).