Unseeded young Indian shuttlers Maisnam Meiraba and Gayatri Gopichand continued their good run at the Dutch Junior International in Haarlem on Friday by entering the pre-quarterfinals in their respective categories, overcoming seeded opponents.
Meiraba defeated Spain’s Ernesto Baschwitz (ninth seed) 21-13, 21-16 in just 35 minutes.
The in-form Gopichand, winner of two All India Junior ranking titles, took even lesser time in defeating Netherlands shuttler Amy Tan (10th seed) 21-17, 21-12 in 26 minutes.
The second seed in the women’s U-19 draw, Vaishnavi Jakka Reddy, also progressed to the last eight but was stretched by Russia’s Viktoriia Kozyreva. The Indian triumphed 21-14, 19-21, 21-14 in 44 minutes.
Elsewhere, however, there was disappointment for 12th seed Smit Toshniwal as she was ousted in a tough match by Korea’s Hye Jin Choi 18-21, 21-12, 21-17 in a 54-minute encounter.
Fourth seed Anastasiia Shapovalova of Russia ended Samiya Imad Farooqui’s run with a 21-18, 21-15 win in 38 minutes.
In girls’ doubles Natasja P. Anthonisen and Clara Graversen of Denmark defeated India’s Treesa Jolly and Varshini Viswanath 21-10, 16-21, 21-12 in 42 minutes.
(Correction: Gayatri and Maisnam have reached the pre-quarterfinals and not the quarterfinals)
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