Harpal Singh Bedi
New Delhi, 29 November: Seven Indians including top seed Unnati Hooda opened their campaign with contrasting victories at the Badminton Asia Junior Championships, in Nonthaburi, Thailand on Tuesday.
In the U-17 girls singles round of 64 match, Odisha Open Champion Unnati thrashed Japan’s Misato Sasaki 21-11, 21-5 in just 24 minutes. The Indian will face Indonesia’s Dea Nur Fadilla in the round of 32 match tomorrow.
In the other U-17 match, Anmol Kharb won both her matches to move into the round of 32. First, she defeated Singapore’s Chujei Jennifer 21-11, 21-14 before getting the better of Wening Sabrina of Indonesia 21-19, 21-10. Anmol will next play against Ratnacha Sompoch of Thailand tomorrow.
However, Jiya Rawat went down fighting against Peeraya Wechawong of Thailand as she lost 11-21, 21-14 and 21-10.
In the U-15 girls section Sampriti Pal faced a tough challenge from Keira Indriyan of Indonesia .The Indian won the first game 21-12 but lost the plot in the second game to lose 7-21 before making a comeback in the third game to win 21-15 and wrap up the match in 48 minutes. She will square off against Japan’s Ria Haga in the next round on Wednesday.
In the U-15 boys singles first round match, – Abhinav Garg, Anish Thoppani and Mohammad Ali Mir won their respective matches and moved to the round of 64. While Abhinav and Anish won in three games against Thailand’s Chinnapat Seangpan and Japan’s Mahiro Matsumoto respectively, Mohammad defeated Srilanka’s Mihila Jayaweeera 21-19-21-14. All three of them will play their next match tomorrow.
In the U-17 boys section, Dhruv Negi defeated Singapore’s Nge Joo Jin 21-19, 19-21, 21-17 in a close match that lasted 43 minutes while Ansh Negi lost 20-22, 21-16, 12-21 against Shota Natsuka of Japan in the round of 64 stage.