BWF World Junior C’ships: Tanvi, Unnati start with wins

Medal hopefuls Tanvi Sharma, Unnati Hooda and Rakshitha Sree R launched their BWF World Junior Championships campaigns with comfortable victories, while all four boys’ singles players also sailed through the next round at the National Centre of Excellence here on Tuesday.

Top-seeded Tanvi thrashed Poland’s Wiktoria Kaletka 15-2, 15-1 in just 11 minutes while eighth seed Unnati eased to a 15-8, 15-9 win over Hong Kong’s Liu Hoi Anna in 23 minutes. Rakshitha Sree then overcame the challenge of Lucy Yang of Canada 15-5, 15-9 to get her campaign going.

In the boys’ singles category, 11th seed Rounak Chouhan defeated Sri Lanka’s Thisath Rupathunga 15-3, 15-6, 15th seed Suryaksh Rawat beat Yigitcan Erol of Turkiye 15-5, 15-8 while Lalthazuala Hmar got the better of Rylan Tan of USA 15-11, 15-5. A few hours later, Gnana Dattu TT joined his teammates in the round of 32, beating Brazil’s Joaquim Mendonca 15-10, 15-13.

In the next round, Gnana Dattu will face Suryaksh for a place in the pre-quarterfinals.

The only reversal for India in the singles category came when Asian Junior championships bronze medallist Vennala K could not find her rhythm and went down 6-15, 5-15 against fifth seed Tonrug Saeheng of Thailand in the second round.

In the mixed doubles events, 14th seed Bhavya Chhabra and Vishakha Toppo and C Lalramsanga and Taarini Suri advanced to the next round in contrasting manner, while two Indian pairs were knocked out.

Bhavya and Vishakha struggled to drive home the advantage in the second game but recovered well to beat Indonesia’s Ghian Sofyan and Salsabila Aulia 15-4, 13-15, 15-5 while C Lalramsanga and Taarini Suri dominated the second game to win 15-12, 15-5.

India results

Men’s singles:

15-Suryaksh Rawat bt Yigitcan Erol (Turkiye) 15-5, 15-8; 11-Rounak Chouhan bt Thisath Rupathunga (Sri Lanka) 15-3, 15-6; Lalthazuala Hmar bt Rylan Tan (USA) 15-11, 15-5; Gnana Dattu TT vs Joaquim Mendonca (Brazil) 15-10, 15-13

Women’s singles:

1-Tanvi Sharma bt Wiktoria Kaletka (Poland) 15-2, 15-1; 8-Unnati Hooda bt Liu Hoi Anna (Hong Kong) 15-8, 15-9; Vennala K lost to 5-Tonrug Saeheng (Thailand) 6-15, 5-15; 10-Rakshitha Sree bt Lucy Yang (Canada) 15-5, 15-9

Mixed doubles:

14-Bhavya Chhabra/Vishakha Toppo bt Ghian Sofyan/Salsabila Aulia (Indonesia) 15-4, 13-15, 15-5; C Lalramsanga/Taarini Suri bt Ralph Dalojo/Andrea Hernandez (Philippines) 15-12, 15-5; Vansh Dev/Dianka Waldia lost to 11-Datu Asrah/Zi Low (Malaysia) 15-6, 5-15, 10-15; Vishnu Kode/Keerthy Manchala lost to Wei Jian Zhen/Liang Yu En (China) 13-15, 10-15