Thailand Open 2024: Maisnam Meiraba continues dream run, enters quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag, Ashwini-Tanisha also book their place in the last eight
The Thailand Open 2024, currently taking place in Bangkok, saw another set of remarkable performances from the Indian shuttlers.
21-year-old Maisnam Meiraba continued his brilliant run to enter the quarterfinals. The top-seeded duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and the women’s doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa also won their respective matches to enter the last eight.
The other Indian shuttlers in action in the pre-quarterfinals ended up on the losing side of their matches. Ashmita Chaliha and the pairs of Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda and Sathish Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath displayed resilience but ultimately went down to either the top or second seed in their category.
A closer look at some of the matches at the Thailand Open 2024 (Indians only):
India’s Meiraba Maisnam, who stunned World No. 9 HS Prannoy in the round of 32 yesterday, continued his phenomenal run in the tournament. The 21-year-old beat Mads Christophersen of Denmark in the pre-quarterfinals. The final score of the 50-minute-long match was 21-14, 22-20 in favor of the Indian shuttler.
Apart from beating Prannoy, Meiraba has won two more matches en route to the main draw. The Indian battled his way through the qualifying rounds, beating Shashwat Dalal and Malaysia's Kok Jing Hong to secure the spot.
Meiraba will now face top seed and home favorite Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the quarterfinals.
The top-seeded men's doubles duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy also won their match to book their place in the quarterfinals. The Indian pair secured a commanding victory over China’s Xie Sao Nan and Zeng Wei Han in the round of 16 of the Super 500 event. They beat the Chinese duo 21-16, 21-11, and will now face Malaysia's Junaidi Arif and Roy King Yap in the quarterfinals.
The women's doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa also secured their spot in the quarterfinals at the Thailand Open. The fourth-seeded pair from India took just 36 minutes to get the better of Chinese Taipei’s Hung E. T. and Lin Y. P. The final scoreline of the match was 21-19, 21-17.
In the women’s singles category, Ashmita Chaliha went down against top-seeded Chinese player Han Yue in a thrilling three-set battle. After losing the first set, Chaliha made a comeback to level things. However, the Indian ultimately fell short in the final game. Chaliha lost the closely contested match 15-21, 21-12, 12-21.
Similarly, in mixed doubles, the pair of Sathish Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath also faced a tough challenge against second seeds Rinov Rivaldy and Pitha Haningtyas Mentari from Indonesia. Despite a valiant effort, the young shuttlers lost the match with a score of 19-21, 17-21.
The women’s doubles pair of Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda also ended their campaign after going down to second seeds, Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi from Japan, 16-21, 13-21.
Thailand Open 2024: Results at the end of day three (Indians only)
Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa (India) beat Hung E. T. and Lin Y. P. (Chinese Taipei) 21-19, 21-17
Ashmita Chaliha (India) lost to Han Yue (China) 15-21, 21-12, 12-21
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty (India) beat Xie Sao Nan and Zeng Wei Han (China) 21-16, 21-11
Maisnam Meiraba (India) beat Mads Christophersen (Denmark) 21-14, 22-20
Sathish Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath (India) lost to Rinov Rivaldy and Pitha Haningtyas Mentari (Indonesia) 19-21, 17-21
Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda (India) lost to Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi (Japan) 16-21, 13-21