Patumwan (Thailand), Jan 30 (.) India’s Isharani Baruah advanced to the women’s singles quarter-finals of the BWF Super 300 Thailand Masters after a hard-fought three-game win at the Nimibutr Stadium on Thursday.
According to Olympics.com, the 22-year-old Indian shuttler, ranked 48th in the world, battled for over an hour to overcome Chinese Taipei’s Sung Shuo Yun, ranked 34th, 21-13, 14-21, 21-14, avenging her earlier loss to the same opponent at the 2023 Guwahati Masters.
The opening game was closely contested, with the scores level at 11-all before Isharani edged ahead at 14-13. She then raised the tempo, rattling off seven consecutive points to clinch the first game and seize early control.
Sung fought back in the second game, which again stayed evenly poised until 13-all. The Chinese Taipei shuttler produced a late surge, winning seven of the next eight points to level the match and force a decider.
The third game, however, saw Isharani firmly in command as she dictated play to close out the contest and book her place in the last eight.
Earlier in the day, Devika Sihag also progressed to the women’s singles quarter-finals with a straight-game upset over eighth seed Tung Ciou-Tong of Chinese Taipei, winning 21-14, 21-14. Devika will next face local favourite and top seed Supanida Katethong.
India’s Anmol Kharb bowed out after a close battle, losing 21-10, 19-21, 19-21 to fifth seed Huang Yu-Hsun of Chinese Taipei, while Shriyanshi Valishetty went down 17-21, 22-20, 19-21 to Malaysia’s Karupathevan Letshanaa.
In men’s singles, world No. 60 Mithun Manjunath, who had stunned eighth seed Magnus Johannessen in the opening round, put up a spirited fight before losing to Paris 2024 bronze medallist Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia 11-21, 21-16, 21-12.
Seventh seed Kiran George also exited after a 21-16, 21-11 defeat to Indonesia’s Prahdiska Shujiwo.
Tharun Mannepalli remains India’s sole hope in men’s singles after edging Chinese Taipei’s Ting Yen-Chen 21-17, 14-21, 24-22 to enter the quarter-finals.
India’s doubles campaign at the tournament ended in the opening round.
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