Thailand Open 2023 Quarter-Finals: Lakshya Sen beats Leong Jun Hao, Kiran George crashes out

Hello and welcome to the Khel Now live blog for the Thailand Open 2023 Quarter-Finals! Stay tuned for live updates as players eye a place in the semis.

After the Malaysia Masters 2023, the BWF world shifts its attention to yet another Super 500 event, the Thailand Open 2023. India has had four different winners in the competition’s history. Saina Nehwal won the women’s singles title in 2012, Kidambi Srikanth and B Sai Praneeth won the men’s singles titles in 2013 and 2017, respectively, and the men’s doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won the title in 2019.

2023 has been one of the most competitive seasons, especially in the men’s singles category, with HS Prannoy being the latest entrant into the list of players to have won a title in the year. No player has won more than one title in men’s singles in the BWF World Tour in 2023.

Thailand Open 2023 Day 3 Summary

India's star shuttler Lakshya Sen and young Kiran George advanced to the quarter-finals of the Thailand Open 2023. While Sen beat All England champion Li Shi Feng of China, George defeated Malaysia Masters finalist Weng Hong Yang to make it into the last eight stage of the BWF Super 500 tournament.

Sen beat the fourth-seeded Chinese 21-17, 21-15 in just 49 minutes to progress from the round of 16. The World No. 23 will next face Malaysia's qualifier Leong Jun Hao in the quarter-finals.

George, who came through the qualifiers, continued his fine run with another straight games win. The 23-year-old, who upset World Championships silver medallist Shi Yuqi in the first round, went past his Chinese opponent 21-11, 21-19 in just 39 minutes. This will be his maiden quarter-final appearance in a BWF World Tour Super500 event. The WR 59 will next face France's Toma Junior Popov.

In the women's singles, Saina Nehwal bowed out after losing to third seed and WR 5 He Bing Jao of China 11-21, 14-21. It was also curtains for 23-year-old Ashmita Chaliha who lost 18-21, 13-21 against three-time world champion and Olympics gold medallist Carolina Marin.

The biggest shocker for India on day 3 was, however, the exit of No. 1 seeded pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who bowed out after an uncharacteristic loss against Indonesia duo Muhammad Shohibul Fikri/Bagas Maulana 26-24, 11-21, 17-21.