In a major upset, China’s Dai Wang defeated top seed Malvika Bansod of India, 15-21, 21-18, 21-17, in the women’s singles quarter-final of the Al Sharif Group Bahrain International Challenge 2023 at the Bahrain Keraleeya Samajam (BKS) last night.
On a day of even more upsets, Chen Lu, also of China, defeated fourth seed India’s Anupama Upadhyaya, 22-12, 21-12; China’s Wu Luo Yu overcame Kaloyana Nalbantova, of Bulgaria, 21-18, 21-15 and Indian Gadde Ruthvika Shivani beat compatriot Janani Ananthakumar, 21-17, 21-12.
Meanwhile, in the men’s singles quarter-finals, India’s Meiraba Luwang Maisnam defeated compatriot and number three seed Muthuswamy Subramanian, 21-18, 21-15 while fourth-seeded Satish Karunakaran, also of India, beat fellow national Satish Kumar 23-21, 21-11.
In the third men’s singles quarter-final, Japan’s Riki Takei overcame India’s Raghu Mariswamy, 15-21, 21-18, 21-11 and in the fourth quarterfinal, Minoru Koga, of Japan, beat India’s Bharat Yadav, 19-21, 21-15, 21-13.
In the men’s doubles quarter-finals, China’s Xie Hao Nan and Zeng Wei Han beat the Bahrain-UAE pairing of Mohamed Muanis and Mohammed Munawar, 21-11, 21-18; India’s Krishna Prasad Garaga and Sai Pratheek defeated Sri Lankan duo Oshamika Karunarathne and Thulith Palliyaguru, 21-10, 21-11; Thailand’s Sirawit Sothon and Natthapat Trinkajee beat Sri Lanka’s Madhuka Dulanjana and Lahiru Weerasinghe, 21-14, 21-7 and Japan’s Kazuki Shibata and Naoki Yamada made short work of Bahrain-UAE pair Naufal Ligo Saufik and Wildan Sholih, 21-14, 21-14.
The women’s doubles quarter-finals saw Bulgarian sisters Gabriella Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva account for India’s Keerthika Ch and Divya Balasubramaniam, 21-6, 21-6; Indian sisters Nikki Rapria and Nishu Rapria overcome UAE pair Sanika Dhawan Gurav and Tabia Khan, 17-21, 21-19, 21-13; Japan’s Kokona Ishikawa and Mio Konegawa defeat China’s Ding Ke Yun and Wang Zi Meng, 22-20, 21-13 and Wang Ting Ge and Wang Yi Duo, of China, beat India’s Diya Arun Arun and Amrutha Pramuthesh, 21-8, 21-19.
Meanwhile, top-seeded English pair Gregory and Jenny Mairs were awarded a walk-over against India’s Kona Tarun and Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli in their mixed doubles quarter-final; Germany’s Jones Ralfy Jansen and Thuc Phuong Nguyen beat the UAE’s Wildan Sholih and Taabia Khan, 21-11, 21-12; China’s Ma Xi Xiang and Wu Meng Ching defeated India’s Thandrangi Hema Nagendra Babu and Aparna Balan, 21-10, 22-20 and China’s Zhou Zhi Hong and Yang Jia Yi overcame India’s Sathish Karunakaran and Aadya Variath, 21-16, 4-2 (retired because of injury).