Nonthaburi (Thailand), Nov 30 (UNI) Young Indian shuttlers, Unnati Hooda, Dhruv Negi and Anmol Kharb marched into the U-17 singles pre-quarterfinals of the Badminton Asia U-17 & U-15 Junior Championships after registering contrasting victories on Wednesday.

While fifth-seed Dhruv, who hails from Uttarakhand, fought hard against Thailand’s Panya Phutthiphraisakul during his 21-14, 17-21, 21-15 win in the men’s category, top-seed Unnati and Anmol had easy outings in the women’s section.
Unnati wrapped up the match 21-7, 21-11 against the Indonesian shuttler Dea Nur Fadilla. Haryana-born Anmol too secured a confident 21-12, 21-19 win over Thailand’s Ratnacha Sompoch.
Neer Nehwal was the lone Indian shuttler to end up on the losing side in the U-17 category. He gave his all before conceding a 21-11, 9-21, 19-21 loss to Japan’s Kazuma Kawano in the hard-fought men’s singles round-of-32 contest.
In the U-15 singles, Mohammad Ali Mir, Ishita Negi and three other Indians progressed into the round-of-32 on the second day of the tournament.
Mohammad Ali and Gnana Dattu secured easy straight sets victories against Thailand’s Paramat Pumleng and Hong Kong’s Cheung Sai Shing by 21-16, 21-18 and 21-11, 21-13 respectively in the men’s category.
Anish Thoppani, on the other hand, recovered well in time after losing the second set to finish the match in his favour by 21-14, 18-21, 23-21 against ninth-seed Maharishiel Gain of Indonesia.
Among women, fifth-seeded Ishita thrashed Lada Na Nakorn of Thailand by 21-9, 21-12 whereas Sampriti Pal outperformed Japan’s Ria Haga in a 21-16, 21-16 win.
Abhinav Garg, Suhasi Verma and Tanvi Sharma suffered defeats in the U-15 section.
Meanwhile in the U-15 men’s doubles opening round match, India duo of Bjorn Jaison and Aathish Sreenivas PV beat Sri Lanka’s Mihila Jayaweera and Janeesha Sethuhewa by 21-18, 21-17.
The prestigious continental event, which is being conducted after two years following the pandemic, will go on till December 4.
UNI BAV