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Mixed doubles pair Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy stunned Indonesian second seeded pair Hafiz Faizal and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja on Tuesday.

Rankireddy and Ponnappa defeated the World no. 8 pair in straight games 21-18, 21-10 in the encounter that lasted for 38 minutes. Indian pair will now proceed to the second round of the tournament.

“I’m happy that we broke into the top 20. In 2019 we could not play too many tournaments as I was injured and because of the Covid-19 pandemic," said 31-year-old Ashwini, who trains in Bengaluru.

Satwiksairaj and Ashwini have made a jump of 16 places and are placed at the 19th spot in the rankings which got updated on Tuesday.

Doubles player rates his performance with Ashwini in mixed doubles as the best in his career

The Indian men’s and mixed doubles pair make exit in Thailand Open

The unseeded Indian pair registered a 18-21, 24-22, 22-20 win over their world number six opponents in a nail-biting quarter-final clash which lasted for an hour and 15 minutes.

Satwiksairaj and Ashwini defeated their German opponents 22-20, 14-21, 21-16 in a match that lasted for 56 minutes.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty came from behind to defeat the South Korean pair of Kim Gi Jung and Lee Yong Dae 19-21 21-16 21-14

With Olympic qualifications in mind, BAI on Monday announced a strong eight-member squad to participate in the three upcoming tournaments