Cuttack, Jan 28: Kiran George upset third seed Subhankar Dey to advance to the men’s singles semifinals while in-form shuttler Malvika Bansod also cruised to the last four round in the women’s event at the Odisha Open badminton tournament here on Friday.
The unseeded Kiran eked out a hard-fought 21-16, 10-21, 21-19 win over the higher ranked Subhankar, who was the last remaining seed in the men’s singles event.
The 21-year-old will meet the winner of the quarter-final between Ansal Yadav and Tharun Mannepalli.
Malvika, who reached the final of the Syed Modi International where she lost to PV Sindhu before defeating Saina Nehwal at the India Open earlier this month, continued to impress as she registered a 21-13, 16-21, 21-17 victory over fellow Indian Tanya Hemanth in a gruelling 58-minute quarterfinal contest.
Fifth seed Ashmita Chaliha got the better of Rhucha Sawant 21-17, 21-15 to book her spot in the last four of the women’s singles, where she will meet compatriot Smit Toshniwal, who came from behind to beat USA’s Ishika Jaiswal 8-21, 21-9, 21-14.
In another women’s singles quarter-final, Unnati Hooda handed fellow Indian Samiya Imad Farooqui a 21-10, 21-15 defeat in 26 minutes. She will lock horns with Malvika, who is ranked 87th, in the semi-final.
Unseeded Mithun Manjunath, who had stunned seventh seed June Wei Cheam of Malaysia on Thursday, lost a hard fought battle 21-13, 14-21, 8-21 to Priyanshu Rajawat in 51 minutes in another men’s singles quarterfinal match.
In the mixed doubles event, three Indian pairings advanced to the semifinals. (PTI)
