Russian Open: Anand Pawar reaches quarter-finals, Subhankar Dey exits

Eighth seed Anand Pawar made it to the quarterfinals even as the fourth seed Subhankar Dey bowed out in the third round of the $65,000 Russian Open Grand Prix 2017 in Vladivostok, Russia on Thursday.

Pawar came back from a game down to beat Malaysia’s Lim Chi Wing 10-12, 11-6, 11-7, 12-10 and set up a tough quarterfinal clash with the second seed Vladimir Malkov.

Dey lost an all-Indian clash to the 167th ranked Rahul Yadav Chittaboina. The 19-year-old has been in impeccable form at this tournament and did not drop a game in his first two rounds before meeting Dey.

He next meets the 251st ranked Wang Yuehan of England for a place in the semi-finals.

Rasika Raje, Vrushali Gummadi sizzle

19-year-old Vrushali Gummadi continued her fine run at the Grand Prix tournament. The World No. 289 beat the 414th ranked Anastasiia Sharapova in straight games despite stiff resistance from the Russian in the second game.

Gummadi needed 23 minutes to beat Sharapova, 11-8, 15-14, 11-6.

She has a mountain to climb in the next round as she faces the third seed Natalia Perminova.

Another rising star - Rasika Raje - too made it to the last-eight. Raje, seeded sixth, comfortably dismissed Japanese qualifier Minami Kawashima, 13-11, 11-7, 15-14 for a quarter-final showdown with the fourth seed Natsuki Nidaira.

Anura Prabhudesai did not share the same fortunes and lost to the top seed Soniia Cheah, 5-11, 8-11, 7-11.

India’s title hopes continue in doubles

India’s title hopes are still alive in doubles. The pair of Saurabh Sharma and Anoushka Parikh made it to the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles section.

Sharma and Parikh beat the Russian combine of Aleksandr Vasilkin and Anastasia Redkina 11-9, 11-5, 11-7 in the second round encounter.

In men’s doubles, fourth seeds Arjun MR and Shlok Ramchandran opened their campaign with a breezy 11-9, 11-3, 11-8 victory over Russia’s Pavel Kotsarenko and Rodion Alimov.

Arjun and Shlok, who won the Iran Fajr Badminton International Challenge in February, had received a bye in their first round.

There is no Indian participation in women’s doubles.