Indian shuttler Sameer Verma continues his brilliant run at the Princess Sirivannavari Thailand Masters 2016 in Bangkok as he booked his place in the quarter-finals on Wednesday. The 15th seed made short work of his 19-year-old compatriot Harsheel Dani 21-17, 21-14 in 32 minutes in his third round match at this Grand Prix Gold level tournament.
Verma will next face the third-seeded Hu Yun of Hong Kong in the quarter-finals on Thursday. This is Sameer’s first meeting with the World No. 13.
The 41st ranked Verma has been in impressive form recently as he captured three International-level titles at the end of 2015 that included the Tata Open India International Challenge at home.
The men’s doubles pair of Alwin Francis and Tarun Kona, however, did not enjoy the same fortunes as they crashed out 11-21, 9-21 to the Chinese pair of Huang Kaixiang and Zheng Siwei in the second round.
Earlier on Tuesday, Anand Pawar bowed out of the men’s singles competition in the second round after losing to Sameer Verma 4-21, 19-21. The other Indian in the fray, Subhankar Dey was beaten 21-15, 21-15 by the ninth seed Jeon Hyeok Jin of Korea.
World No. 2 and women's singles top seed Saina Nehwal had pulled out of this event right before its start as she continues to recover from a foot injury.
