IMAGE: Ayush Shetty is a World Junior Championships bronze medallist. Photograph: BAI Media/X
World junior championships bronze medallist Ayush Shetty and defending champion Kiran George entered the pre-quarterfinals but top seed Priyanshu Rajawat suffered a shock loss on the second day of the Odisha Masters super 100 badminton tournament in Cuttack on Wednesday.
Second seed Kiran, who won the 2023 Indonesia Masters, fought off Rithvik Sanjeevi Satish Kumar 21-12, 10-21, 21-12, setting up a date with Iqbal Diaz Syahputra of Indonesia in the pre-quarters.
Shetty, who beat Tharun Mannepalli in the opening round on Tuesday, was up against Muhammad Reza Al Fajri of Indonesia in Round 2. The 18-year-old faced tough competition from his opponent but held his nerves to win 19-21, 21-9, 22-20.
He will now face another Indonesia, Tegar Sulistio, who beat Yang Yang of the Chinese Taipei 19-21, 21-16, 21-16.
However, it was not a great day for Rajawat.
The top seed went down to Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan, despite putting in a tough effort, losing 11-21, 22-20, 12-21.
Fifth seed Mithun Manjunath, the current national champion and 2022 Orléans Masters runner-up, had it easy as he notched up a 21-12, 21-18 win over Dumindu Abeywickrama of Sri Lanka and will be facing fellow Indian Subhankar Dey, a winner of 2018 SaarLorLux Open super 100, in the next round.
Meiraba Maisnam, Chirag Sen, sixth seed Sathish Kumar and Arya Bhivpathaki also entered the men’s singles third round.
In the women’s section, defending champion Unnati Hooda, national champion Anupama Upadhyaya, Ashmita Chaliha, Imad Farooqui Samiya, Tasnim Mir reached the pre-quarterfinals.
While Unnati beat Uganda’s Husina Kobugabe 21-10 21-8, Anupama produced a brilliant performance to knock out second seed Korean Sung Shuo Yun, prevailing 16-21, 21-19, 21-17. She will take on compatriot Shriyanshi Valishetty in the pre-quarters.
Unnati will face Ashmita, who beat another player from Uganda — Fadilah Shamika Mohamed Rafi 21-14, 21-6.
In the doubles category, the third-seeded pair of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa, who claimed the Guwahati Masters super 100 last week, came up with a resounding performance in the opening round.
They sailed to a comfortable 21-7, 21-14 victory over Aleena Qathun and Nayonika Rajesh of the United Arab Emirates, and will now be facing fellow Indians Arul Bala Radhakrishnan and Varshini Vishwanath Sri.
As for the mixed double category, the pair of eighth-seed B Sumeeth Reddy and Sikki Reddy prevailed 21-9, 21-15 over Farogh Sanjay Aman and Anagha Karandikar in Round 1.
They would now be up against the Indian duo of Rohan Kapoor and Ponnappa, who earlier beat the Indonesian pair of Ting Shih Wee Owen and Gan Jing Err 21-19, 21-15.
