Women’s doubles pair Ashwini Bhat-Shikha Gautam, Mithun Manjunath storm into Orleans Masters semis

Mithun Manjunath and women’s doubles pair K Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam continued their impressive run to progress to the semi-finals of the Orleans Masters on Friday.

Reigning national women’s doubles champions Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam ended their lean patch to seal a semis berth in the BWF World Tour Super 100 badminton tournament.

Ashwini and Shikha rallied back splendidly to oust Sweden’s Moa Sjoo and Tilda Sjoo 19-21, 21-10, 21-11 in the women’s doubles quarterfinals at the Palais des Sports in Orleans, France.

World No. 70 Ashwini and Shikha lost the opening game narrowly but staged a remarkable recovery in the next two games to complete a brilliant win in 57 minutes.

Swedish pair Moa Sjoo and Tilda Sjoo, ranked 159 in the world, were outplayed in the last two games by the Indian combination. Karnataka duo Ashwini and Shikha gelled well on the court and attacked relentlessly as the match progressed.

Ashwini and Shikha to face German pair for spot in final

Ashwini and Shikha will cross swords with Stine Kuespert and Emma Moszczynski of Germany in the women’s doubles semis.

World No. 100 Stine and Emma defeated Hong Kong’s Ng Tsz Yau and Tsang Hiu Yan 21-18, 21-16 in a one-sided quarterfinal.

It will be a golden opportunity for Ashwini and Shikha to clinch a place in Sunday’s final by overcoming the German pair on Saturday.

Mithun Manjunath downs Hong Kong’s Chan Yin Chak in straight games

In-form Mithun Manjunath advanced to the semifinals with a comfortable 21-13, 21-18 victory over Hong Kong’s Chan Yin Chak.

World No. 79 Mithun needed just 41 minutes to get the better of Yin Chak. Mithun began strongly and quickly raced to a 11-6 lead at the break. The 23-year-old Karnataka youngster won the first game with ease.

Mithun maintained the tempo in the second too, establishing a six-point lead. World No. 59 Yin Chak mounted a comeback, reeling in five consecutive points after trailing 15-9. After the game was tied at 18-all, Mithun sealed the match with three straight points.

Mithun will now clash with Christian Adinata of Indonesia, ranked 189, in the semifinals.

Heart-breaking loss for Anupama Upadhyaya

Anupama Upadhyaya, meanwhile, suffered a heart-breaking 17-21, 24-22, 21-18 loss to lower-ranked Wen Yu Zhang of Canada in the women’s singles quarterfinals.

Anupama, who won the Polish Open last week, was expected to beat the world No. 97 Canadian. After winning the first game 21-17, Anupama was on course to reach back-to-back semifinals.

Despite saving five game points, Anupama could not prevent Yu Zhang from converting her sixth game point to force a decider, though.

Both Anupama and Wen Yu fought gallantly in the decider. The Canadian, though, kept her cool to shatter the hopes of the teenaged Anupama.

Meanwhile, Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto, winners at the Syed Modi International, lost to Malaysia’s Roy King Yap and Teoh Mei Xing 21-7, 21-13 in their mixed doubles quarterfinal.

PS Ravikrishna and Sankar Prasad Udayakumar also lost a close match to France’s Eloi Adam and Julien Maio later in the day. The Indian pair went down 21-13, 21-12, 22-20.

Indian Results (Quarterfinals)

Men’s singles

Mithun Manjunath bt Chan Yin Chak (Hong Kong China) 21-13, 21-18 (42 minutes).

Women’s singles

Anupama Upadhyaya lost to Wen Yu Zhang (Canada) 21-17, 22-24, 18-21 (56 minutes).

Men’s doubles

PS Ravikrishna-Sankar Prasad Udayakumar lost to Eloi Adam-Julien Maio (France) 21-13, 12-21, 20-22 (48 minutes).

Women’s doubles

K Ashwini Bhat-Shikha Gautam bt Moa Sjoo-Tilda Sjoo (Sweden) 19-21, 21-10, 21-11 (57 minutes).

Mixed doubles

7-Ishaan Bhatnagar-Tanisha Crasto lost to Roy King Yap-Teoh Mei Xing (Malaysia) 7-21, 13-21 (26 minutes).

Semifinal line up

Men’s singles

Mithun Manjunath vs Christian Adinata (Indonesia).

Women’s doubles

K Ashwini Bhat-Shikha Gautam vs Stine Kuespert-Emma Moszczynski (Germany).