Asia Junior Championship: Indian shuttlers Jayant Rana, Ayush and Varun stormed into quarterfinals
Yangon, October 6: Star Indian shuttlers Jayant Rana, Ayush Raj Gupta and Varun Kapur on Thursday stormed into the quarterfinals of under-15 men's singles competition of the Asia Junior Championship which is being held at Yangon, Myanmar.
Jayant Rana registered a hard-fought victory over Malaysia's Anson Cheong who is the eighth seed by 21-15 17-21 21-12, Ayush defeated Malaysia's Zhen Yi Ong by 21 -17 17-21 21-11, while Varun thrashed Thailand's Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul 21-13 21-12.
On the other side, Siddhanth Gupta suffered a 16-21 21-18 13-21 loss to Japan's Riki Takei, the fifth seed in the pre-quarterfinals. He had defeated Vietnam's Thanh Dat Bui 21-18 21-13 earlier in the day. However, third seed Samiya Imad Farooqui and Aashi Rawat also entered the final eight in under 15 women's singles. While Samiya defeated Chinese Taipei's Lin Tzu-Yun 21-10 21-16, Aashi defeated Indonesia's Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo 14-21 21- 14 21-16 in another match.
Unfortunately, none of the Indian men could qualify for the quarterfinals in under-17 category with Maisnam Meiraba Luwang and Aakash Yadav losing in the third round here. In under 17 women's singles, Malvika lost 17-21 19-21 to Chinese Taipei's third seed Hung En-Tzu in the third round, while second seed Aakarshi Kashyap also lost 18-21 16-21 to Japan's Riko Gunji.
In women's singles U-17, Ritika Thaker, the fourth seed, lost to Hsieh Hsin Yu of Chinese Taipei 18-21 18-21. Ayush Raj Gupta trounced Sri Lanka's Viren Nettasinghe 21-7 21-12, Jayant Rana prevailed over Chakkaphat Bokhat of Thailand 21-7 21-17, second seed Varun Kapur saw off Hu Yu Chi of Chinese Taipei in the under-15 men's singles.
In under 15 women's singles, Kavipriya Selvam, a seventh seed, defeated Thailand's Kanyanat Sudchoeichom 17-21 21-17 21-9, Samiya Imad Farooqui, a third seed, beat Thailand's Thamonwan Nithiittikrai 21-15 22-20, Aashi Rawat defeated Thailand's Krittaporn Jiantanet, the second seed, 21-13 21-13. However, Sneha Rajwar lost 16-21 13-21 to Japan's Kaoru Sugiyama.