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Mithun Manjunath caused a major upset by knocking out second seed Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus to storm into the quarter-finals of the Orleans Masters 2022 badminton tournament on Thursday.
Unseeded Mithun rallied back splendidly to topple world No. 22 Vittinghus of Denmark 16-21, 21-10, 21-11 in the men’s singles second round, in a marathon match that lasted nearly an hour.
Also joining Mithun in the quarter-finals are Anupama Upadhyaya, Ishaan Bhatnagar-Tanisha Crasto, K Ashwini Bhat-Shikha Gautam, and PS Ravikrishna-Sankar Prasad Udayakumar.
Mithun emerged as the star of the day for the Indian camp on the third day of the competition. World No. 79 Mithun upset the higher-ranked Vittinghus to record perhaps the biggest victory of his career so far.
Karnataka youngster Mithun did not have the best of starts and lost the opening game. However, the 23-year-old regrouped well to pocket the next two games with an inspired performance. Mithun dominated the Dane as the match progressed to clinch a place in the last eight.
Mithun to face Chan Yin Chak of Hong Kong in quarters
Mithun Manjunath will take on Chan Yin Chak of Hong Kong for a spot in the semi-finals on Friday. It will be Mithun’s first encounter against world No. 159 Chan Yin Chak.
Qualifier Chan Yin Chak edged past India’s Meiraba Luwang Maisnam in a nail-biting second-round encounter. Meiraba lost to Chan 12-21, 21-15, 19-21 in 63 minutes.
Teenage sensation Anupama Upadhyaya continues her brilliant run
Anupama Upadhyaya registered a minor upset when she outclassed Léonice Huet of France 21-17, 21-16 in 38 minutes to enter the women’s singles quarter-finals.
The Haryana teenager beat world No. 54 Huet in straight games to maintain her outstanding form of the season. World No. 65 Anupama did no harm to her growing reputation as one of the fastest rising women’s singles shuttlers in the country with yet another solid performance.
French player Huet is one of the most seasoned players on the circuit and recently played in the All England Open Championships, German Open, and Swiss Open.
Anupama will lock horns with Wen Yu Zhang in the next round. The Canadian is ranked 97 in the world.
Another Indian in the women's singles, Ira Sharma, the world No. 91, lost to world No. 80 Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen of Australia 11-21, 17-21. Ira upset France’s Qi Xuefei, a player ranked 47 places above her, 21-14, 21-17 in the previous round.
Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto reach mixed doubles quarters
India’s mixed doubles pair Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto thumped the Netherlands’ Ties Van Der Lecq and Debora Jille 21-18, 22-20 to move into the quarter-finals.
Seventh seeds Ishaan and Tanisha trounced the world No. 79 Dutch pair in straight games. World No. 60 Ishaan and Tanisha will now square off against Roy King Yap and Teoh Mei Xing of Malaysia in the next round.
Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam move up
K Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam kept alive India’s challenge in the women’s doubles by reaching the quarters. The reigning national women's doubles champions defeated Flavie Vallet and Emilie Vercelot of France 21-12, 28-26 in 44 minutes. Ashwini and Shikha will meet Moa Sjoo and Tilda Sjoo of Sweden in the quarters.
Men’s doubles pair PS Ravikrishna-Sankar Prasad Udayakumar dismissed Vinson Chiu and Joshua Yuan of USA 21-15, 21-15 to enter the quarters.
Top seed Sai Praneeth upset by Christo Popov
Top seed B Sai Praneeth crashed out of the tournament after losing to Christo Popov of France in the men’s singles second round match. World No. 19 Sai Praneeth went down to his 60th-ranked opponent Popov 12-21, 11-21 without a fight in 33 minutes.
Indian Results (Round 2):
Men’s singles
Mithun Manjunath bt 2-Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus (Denmark) 16-21, 21-10, 21-11 (58 minutes)
1-B Sai Praneeth lost to Christo Popov (France) 12-21, 11-21 (35 minutes)
Meiraba Luwang Maisnam lost to Chan Yin Chak (Hong Kong China) 12-21, 21-15, 19-21 (63 minutes)
Kiran George lost to Christian Adinata (Indonesia) 16-21, 9-21 (30 minutes)
Women’s singles
Anupama Upadhyaya bt Léonice Huet (France) 21-17, 21-16 (38 minutes)
Ira Sharma lost to Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen (Australia) 11-21, 17-21 (34 minutes)
Men’s doubles
PS Ravikrishna-Sankar Prasad Udayakumar bt Vinson Chiu (USA)-Joshua Yuan (USA) 21-15, 21-15 (25 minutes)
Women’s doubles
K Ashwini Bhat-Shikha Gautam bt Flavie Vallet-Emilie Vercelot (France) 21-12, 28-26 (44 minutes)
Mixed doubles
7-Ishaan Bhatnagar-Tanisha Crasto bt Ties Van Der Lecq-Debora Jille (Netherlands) 21-18, 22-20 (36 minutes).
Quarter-final line-up:
Men’s singles
Mithun Manjunath vs Chan Yin Chak (Hong Kong China)
Women’s singles
Anupama Upadhyaya vs Wen Yu Zhang (Canada)
Men’s doubles
PS Ravikrishna-Sankar Prasad Udayakumar vs Eloi Adam-Julien Maio (France)
Women’s doubles
K Ashwini Bhat-Shikha Gautam vs Moa Sjoo-Tilda Sjoo (Sweden)
Mixed doubles
7-Ishaan Bhatnagar-Tanisha Crasto vs Roy King Yap-Teoh Mei Xing (Malaysia).
