Tanvi Sharma
Top seeded Indian teenager Tanvi Sharma and her two teammates Isharani Baruah and Rakshita Sree Santhosh Ramraj have stormed into the semi-finals of the women’s singles competition at the Vietnam Open badminton championships.
The 17-year-old, ranked 27th in the world disposed of teammate Malvika Bansod 21-18, 15-21, 21-14 in 54 minutes in her quarter-finals tie.
Tanvi will square off against Thailand’s Sarunrak Vitidsarn in the semi-finals. The younger sister of former world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn defeated her teammate Tonrug Saeheng 21-18, 21-16 in her quarter-final tie.
Malvika got off the blocks quickly in the opening game against Tanvi and sped to a comfortable 13-6 lead before the latter began her fight back. She won 10 out of the next 13 points to level the game at 16-16 before keeping her cool under pressure to win 21-18.
The second game was more closely fought, with both contestants sharing the lead. This time, it was Malvika who tightened the screws at the end to take the game 21-15.
The third game remained close until the halfway stage, before Tanvi pulled ahead and eventually took the game comfortably to complete another win.
Tanvi, a silver medallist at the World Junior Championships last year, is looking for her second title of the season. She had also won the Taipei Open earlier this year.
The other semi-final will pit 19-year-old Rakshita against Isharani, three years her senior.
Isharani defeated Chinese Taipei’s Huang Ching Ping 21-15, 21-18 while Rakshita gunned down teammate Mansi Singh 21-12, 21-10 in their respective quarter-final ties.
Unlike the women’s singles, the men’s singles competition will see four players from four different countries making the semi-final cut.
Malaysia’s Soleh Aidil will take on Japan’s Minoru Koga while top seeded Teh Jia Heng of Singapore will take on Indian veteran H.S. Prannoy in the semi-final match-ups.
QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Minoru Koga (Jpn) bt Nguyen Hai Dang (Vie) 22-20, 21-12; Teh Jia Heng (Sgp) bt Zhu Xuanchen (Chn) 21-13, 21-19; Sholeh Aidil (Mas) bt Dong Tianyao (Chn) 21-18, 21-17; H.S. Prannoy (Ind) bt Sanskar Saraswat (Ind) 28-26, 21-12
Men’s doubles: Chen Zhi Ray-Lin Yu Chieh (Tpe) bt Chen Zhehan-Zhu Yanpeng (Chn) 21-12, 18-21, 21-17; Choong Hon Jian-Wong Vin Sean (Mas) bt Cheng Kai Wen-Liao Chao Peng (Tpe) 21-16, 21-8; Terry Hee Yong Kai-Wong Jia Hao Howin (Sgp) bt Wesley Koh Eng Keat-Donovan Willard Wee (Sgp) 21-19, 24-22; Chen Junting-Huang Di (Chn) bt Chen Yong Rui-Liu Yang (Chn) 21-16, 21-15
Women’s singles: Isharani Baruah (Ind) bt Huang Ching Ping (Tpe) 21-15, 21-18; Rakshita Sree Santhosh Ramraj (Ind) bt Mansi Singh (Ind) 21-12, 21-10; Tanvi Sharma (Ind) bt Malvika Bansod (Ind) 21-18, 15-21, 21-14; Sarunrak Vitidsarn (Tha) bt Tonrug Saeheng (Tha) 21-18, 21-16
Women’s doubles: Kim Yu-jung-Lee Yu-lim (Kor) bt Yi En Hsieh-Teng Chun Hsun (Tpe) 21-12, 21-8; Chou Yun An-Kp Ruo Hsuan (Tpe) bt Anastasiia Boiarun-Daria Kharlampovich (Rus) 14-21, 21-19, 21-15; Tidaporn Kleebyeesun-Nattamon Laisuan (Tha) bt Kodchaporn-Pannawee Polyiam (Tha) 15-21, 22-20, 21-6; Liu Jiayue-Wang Zimeng (Chn) bt Liao Lixi-Shen Shiyao (Chn) 21-11, 21-13
Mixed doubles: Li Hongyi-Huang Kexin (Chn) bt Tran Dinh Manh-Pham Thi Khanh (Vie) 21-9, 21-9; Phuwanat Horbanluekit-Fungfa Korpthammakit (Tha) bt Vimalraj Annadurai-Shreya Balaji (Ind) 21-12, 21-11; Ma Xixiang-Qin Huizhi (Chn) bt Rehan Naufal Kusharianto-Melati Daeva Oktavianti (Ina) 21-19, 21-17; Wu Guan Xun-Lee Chia Hsin (Tpe) bt Tan Zhi Yang-Teoh Mei Xing (Mas) 21-16, 17-21, 21-13
