Thailand Open: India's Kiran George, Lakshya Sen progress to quarters; Saina Nehwal Ashmita Chaliha knocked out

Bangkok: Top Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen progressed to the men’s singles quarter-finals with an upset win over Li Shi Feng of China in the Thailand Open Super 500 tournament in Bangkok on Thursday.

Sen beat his fourth seeded Chinese opponent 21-17 21-15 in a round of 16 match that lasted 49 minutes.

The world number 23 Indian will face qualifier Leong Jun Hao of Malaysia in the quarter-finals on Friday.

Another Indian, Kiran George, who made it to the main round through the qualifiers, also advanced to the men’s singles quarter-finals after beating world number 26 Weng Hong Yang of China 21-11 21-19 in 39 minutes.

It is the first time that Kiran, the world number 59, has reached the quarter-final at a BWF World Tour Super 500 event.

THERE’S NO STOPPING THIS GUY 😍

Continuing his fine run Kiran defeated Weng Hong Yang 🇨🇳 21-11, 21-19 to enter his first-ever quarterfinal at a BWF World Tour Super 500 event 😎🔥

Keep it up champ! 💪

📸: @badmintonphoto #ThailandOpen2023 #IndiaontheRise#Badminton pic.twitter.com/wHUxqx5mdA

— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) June 1, 2023

The 2022 Odisha Open winner will face the winner of the match between Ng Ka Long Angus of Hong Kong and Toma Junior Popov of France in a last eight clash on Friday.

In the women’s singles, an out of touch Saina Nehwal lost 11-21 14-21 to third seed and world number five He Bing Jao of China in a Round of 16 match to exit from the tournament.

It was also the end of the road for 23-year-old Ashmita Chaliha, who went down 18-21 13-21 to former Olympic and three-time world champion Carolina Marin of Spain.

The Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also lost their pre-quarterfinal match to Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana of Indonesia 26-24 11-21 17-21.

The Super 500 is a Grade 2 (level 4) event in the BWF tournament ranking system.

The BWF World Tour is divided into six levels, namely World Tour Finals, four Super 1000, six Super 750, seven Super 500, and 11 Super 300 tournaments. One other category of tournament, the BWF Tour Super 100 level, also offers ranking points.

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