CALGARY, Jul 1: Indian shuttlers continued their good run at the Canada Open with six singles players, including Ajay Jayaram and H S Prannoy, reaching the quarterfinals of the USD 55,000 Grand Prix badminton tournament, here.
Top seed Ajay Jayaram brushed aside Austria’s David Obernosterer 21-10 21-12 to set up a clash with fellow Indian Harsheel Dani, who defeated another India shuttler Pratul Joshi 21-9 21-18 in a men’s singles match.
In another pre-quarterfinal match, second seed H S Prannoy recovered from a second game slump to eke out a hard-fought 21-18 18-21 21-12 win over Canada’s BR Sankeerth. He will face seventh seed Brice Leverdez of France next.
Fourth seed B Sai Praneeth, too, reached the quarterfinals after beating Canada’s Wenchao Shi 21-19 21-12. He will face eighth seed Raul Must of Estonia, who ended the campaign of RMV Gurusaidutt, beating the Indian 21-12 7-21 21-17 in another match.
In women’s singles, 2015 National Champion Ruthvika Shivani Gadde edged past Austria’s Elisabeth Baldauf 24-22 21-18 to set up a fight with fourth seeded Linda Zetchiri of Bulgaria.
Senior Nationals runners-up, Tanvi Lad saw off USA’s Maya Chen 21-14 21-15 to set up a meeting with another American Iris Wang, seeded third.
Rio-bound women’s doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa will take on Australia’s Leanne Choo and Rachel Honderich of Canada in the quarterfinals after the top seeds were given a bye in the first round.
Top seeded men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy will take on Canada’s Ted Chin Tai Chen and Chinese Taipei’s Liao Chao Hsiang. The Rio-bound Indian men’s pair defeated local combo of Timothy Chiu and Jason Ho-Shue 21-8 21-10 in a pre-quarterfinal match.
Mixed doubles pair of Manu Attri and Ashwini Ponnappa defeated Canadian combo of Jonathan Lai and Michelle Tong 21-14 21-12 and will square up against fourth seeds Nico Ruponen and Amanda Hogstrom of Sweden.
Another Indian women’s doubles pair of Jakkampudi Meghana and S Poorvisha Ram will face Chinese Taipei’s Hung Yi-Ting and Su Hsiang Ling after getting a bye in the opening round. (PTI)
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