Badminton Asia Junior Championships: Dhruv, Unnati and Anmol march into pre-quarters

The pre-quarterfinals will take place on December 1.

Young Indian shuttlers Dhruv Negi, Unnati Hooda and Anmol Kharb marched into the U-17 singles pre-quarterfinals of the Badminton Asia U-17 & U-15 Junior Championships 2022 after registering contrasting victories in Nonthaburi, Thailand on Wednesday.While fifth-seed Dhruv, who hails from Uttarakhand, fought hard against Thailand’s Panya Phutthiphraisakul during his 21-14, 17-21, 21-15 win in the men’s category, top-seed Unnati and Anmol had easy outings in the women’s section.

Unnati wrapped up the match 21-7, 21-11 against the Indonesian shuttler Dea Nur Fadilla. Haryana-born Anmol too secured a confident 21-12, 21-19 win over Thailand’s Ratnacha Sompoch.

Neer Nehwal on the losing end

Neer Nehwal was the lone Indian shuttler to end up on the losing side in the U-17 category. He gave his all before conceding a 21-11, 9-21, 19-21 loss to Japan’s Kazuma Kawano in the hard-fought men’s singles round-of-32 contest.

In the U-15 singles, Mohammad Ali Mir, Ishita Negi and three other Indians progressed into the round of 32 on the second day of the tournament.

Mohammad Ali and Gnana Dattu secured easy straight sets victories against Thailand’s Paramat Pumleng and Hong Kong’s Cheung Sai Shing by 21-16, 21-18 and 21-11, 21-13 respectively in the men’s category. Anish Thoppani, on the other hand, recovered well in time after losing the second set to finish the match in his favour by 21-14, 18-21, 23-21 against ninth-seed Maharishiel Gain of Indonesia.

Among women, fifth-seeded Ishita thrashed Lada Na Nakorn of Thailand by 21-9, 21-12 whereas Sampriti Pal outperformed Japan’s Ria Haga in a 21-16, 21-16 win.

Abhinav Garg, Suhasi Verma and Tanvi Sharma suffered defeats in the U-15 section.

Meanwhile in the U-15 men’s doubles opening round match, India duo of Bjorn Jaison and Aathish Sreenivas PV beat Sri Lanka’s Mihila Jayaweera and Janeesha Sethuhewa by 21-18, 21-17.

The prestigious continental event, which is being conducted after two years following the pandemic, will go on till December 4.