Defending champion India to take on Thailand in the Thomas Cup Opener
India have sent an 18-member contingent - 10 men and eight women - for the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals which will be held between April 27 and May 5.
India’s women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto along with singles players Unnati Hooda, and Kiran George progressed to the second round of the Odisha Masters badminton tournament here at the JN Indoor Stadium.
In a high-intensity fixture of women’s Doubles category, the duo of Ashwini and Tanisha, who are coming here on the back of securing their second Super 100 title at the Guwahati Masters and also reaching career high 24 in BWF World Rankings defeated UAE’s Aleena Qathun and Nayonika Rajesh 21-7, 21-14.
In the first set, the Indian pair showed aggression and took a 11-4 lead. Ashwini stayed composed, while Tanisha brought out variations in her shots to close the win the opening game with a score of 21-7.
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The Indian duo faced resistance in the second game as Qathun and Rajesh led a fightback and drew parity at 8-8. The Indians again had an 11-8 lead which surged to 17-11 in quick period with Ashwini showing her experience and Tanisha smashing it hard, making it unplayable for the pair from UAE, and secured their win, taking the second game 21-14 with the dup from UAE hitting the shuttle at the net.
In another women’s doubles fixture, Palak Arora and Unnati Hooda lost 7-21, 13-21 to Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker.
In the mixed doubles, the pair of Ashwini and Rohan Kapoor defeated Ting Shih Wee Owen and Gan Jing Err (Malaysia) with a score of 21-19 and 21-15.
Young Indian badminton talent and defending champion Unnati was up against Uganda’s Husina Kobugabe in women’s singles fixture. Unnati won her match by 21-10 and 21-8.
In the men’s singles, Chirag Sen defeated Saneeth Dayanand Shimoga 21-12, 21-9 while defending Champion Kiran George, seeded 2, registered 21-12, 10-21, 21-12 win over compatriot Rithvik Satish Kumar to progress to the next round.
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