Thailand Masters Super 300: Kiran George reaches round of 16, Ashwini Ponnappa-Sumeeth Reddy bow out
February 1, 2023
India’s Kiran George earned a hard-fought win to reach the men’s singles round of 16 at the Thailand Masters Super 300 badminton tournament in Bangkok on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old was forced to a decider in what was an intense battle throughout, and he eventually prevailed 21-17, 19-21, 23-21 in an hour and three minutes against Lee Chia-hao from Chinese Taipei.
Kiran will now face Hong Kong’s Lee Cheukyiu in the round of 16.
In mixed doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and Sumeeth Reddy went down 11-21, 17-21 against Indonesia’s Lisa Ayu Kusumawati and Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto in the round of 32.
Meanwhile, in the women’s doubles section, India’s Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker lost 8-21, 10-21 in the round of 32 against Chinese sixth seeds Liu Shengshu and Zhang Shuxian.
A host of other Indian shuttlers were scheduled to take the court later on Wednesday, including B Sai Praneeth, Sameer Verma, Priyanshu Rajawat, Mithun Manjunath, Tanisha Crasto-Ishaan Bhatnagar, and N Sikki Reddy-Rohan Kapoor.
In the women’s singles round of 32, there will be an all-Indian battle as Ashmita Chaliha takes on Anupama Upadhyaya.
