Tanvi Sharma, Unnati Hooda, and Rakshitha Sree secure easy wins at BWF World Junior Championships

Tanvi Sharma, Unnati Hooda, and Rakshitha Sree R made impressive starts at the BWF World Junior Championships in Guwahati, winning their opening singles matches. All four Indian boys advanced to the next round, with one defeat from Vennala K

Hyderabad: Medal hopefuls Tanvi Sharma, Unnati Hooda, and Rakshitha Sree R launched their BWF World Junior Championships campaigns with comfortable victories, while all four boys’ singles players also sailed through to the next round at the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati on Tuesday.

Top-seeded Tanvi thrashed Poland’s Wiktoria Kaletka 15-2, 15-1 in just 11 minutes, while eighth seed Unnati eased to a 15-8, 15-9 win over Hong Kong’s Liu Hoi Anna in 23 minutes. Rakshitha Sree then overcame the challenge of Lucy Yang of Canada 15-5, 15-9 to get her campaign going.

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In the boys’ singles category, 11th seed Rounak Chouhan defeated Sri Lanka’s Thisath Rupathunga 15-3, 15-6, while 15th seed Suryaksh Rawat beat Yigitcan Erol of Turkey 15-5, 15-8. Lalthazuala Hmar got the better of Rylan Tan of the USA 15-11, 15-5. A few hours later, Gnana Dattu TT joined his teammates in the round of 32, beating Brazil’s Joaquim Mendonca 15-10, 15-13.

In the next round, Gnana Dattu will face Suryaksh for a place in the pre-quarterfinals.

The only reversal for India in the singles category came when Asian Junior Championships bronze medalist Vennala K could not find her rhythm and went down 6-15, 5-15 against fifth seed Tonrug Saeheng of Thailand in the second round.

In the mixed doubles events, 14th seed Bhavya Chhabra and Vishakha Toppo, and C Lalramsanga and Taarini Suri advanced to the next round in contrasting manner, while two Indian pairs were knocked out.

Bhavya and Vishakha struggled to drive home the advantage in the second game but recovered well to beat Indonesia’s Ghian Sofyan and Salsabila Aulia 15-4, 13-15, 15-5. C Lalramsanga and Taarini Suri dominated the second game to win 15-12, 15-5.