-Olympics
Indian badminton players Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto continued their good run at the Odisha Masters 2023 and qualified for the women’s doubles semi-finals at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Cuttack on Friday.
Ponnappa and Crasto, world No. 24 in women’s doubles, got the better of 63rd-ranked Sung Shuo Yun and Yu Chien Hui of Chinese Taipei 22-20, 22-20, 20-14. While Tanisha Crasto used her variations to come out on top in the long rallies, Ashwini Ponnappa used her experience.
Tanisha Crasto, along with Dhruv Kapila, also advanced in the mixed doubles. The Indian pair defeated Indonesia’s Marwan Farza and Jessica Maya Rismawardani 21-16, 21-11 in the quarter-finals.
In women’s singles, the 16-year-old rising star Unnati Hooda defeated senior compatriot Anupama Upadhyaya 16-21, 21-7, 21-15 to make it to the semi-finals. However, Hooda will have her task cut out against former world No. 1 Nozomi Okuhara in the semi-finals.
In men’s singles, Kiran George qualified for the semi-finals with a 21-10, 21-16 win over Meiraba Luwang Maisnam. Ayush Shetty beat compatriot Subhankar Dey 21-16, 21-14 while Chirag Sen was ousted by Satish Kumar Karunakaran after losing 21-10, 21-16.
In other results, B Sumeeth Reddy-Sikki Reddy lost to Denmark’s Mads Vestergaard-Christine Busch 20-22, 21-16, 21-18 in mixed doubles. In the women’s doubles, Rutuparna Panda-Swetaparna Panda went down 21-9, 21-15 to Jesita Putri Miantoro-Febi Setianingrum of Indonesia.
Featured Image: English Jagran