Unnati, Tasnim and Rounak march into semifinals

Cuttack, Dec 12 (PTI) Indian shuttlers Unnati Hooda, Tasnim Mir, Isharani Baruah, Kiran George and Rounak Chouhan maintained their strong run at the Odisha Masters to secure semi-final spots here on Friday.

In the men's singles, second seed Kiran stayed solid with a commanding 21-11, 21-17 win over Rithvik Sanjeevi in 33 minutes. He will next face Rounak, who shocked seventh seed and compatriot Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian 21-19, 22-20 in a tight 41-minute battle.

Indonesia's Muhamad Yusuf got the better of top seed Tharun Mannepalli 21-9, 22-20 in 49 minutes.

The women's singles quarterfinals also saw shocks, with Tanya Hemanth defeating third seed and World Junior Championships silver medallist Tanvi Sharma 21-18, 21-17 in 39 minutes to reach the semifinals.

She will face fellow Indian Isharani Baruah, who has been in top form this week.

Baruah, who began her campaign with a major upset over second seed Pornpicha Choeikeewong and received a walkover in the next round, extended her fine run by beating sixth seed Anmol Kharb 21-16, 21-14 in 41 minutes.

Top seed Unnati Hooda maintained her dominance with a 21-16, 21-15 win over Anupama Upadhyaya and advanced to the semifinals.

Tasnim Mir also produced a strong performance, easing past seventh seed Tung Ciou-Tong of Chinese Taipei to complete an all-Indian semifinals lineup in women's singles -- assuring India multiple medals.

In women's doubles, Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam delivered a strong performance to outplay sixth seeds Kavipriya Selvam and Simran Singhi 21-12, 21-14 and secure a semifinal berth.

However, in men's doubles, pairs Bhargav Ram Arigela/Viswa Tej Gobburu and Pruthvi Krishnamurthy/Sai Pratheek fell to their respective opponents.

In mixed doubles, Sathwik Reddy Kanapuram and Reshika Uthayasooryan advanced with a confident 21-15, 21-19 win over Indonesia's Nawaf Khoiriyansyah and Nahya Muhyifa in 38 minutes.

The fourth-seeded duo of Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh, however, suffered a defeat to Thailand’s Tanadon Punpanich and Fungfa Korpthammakit, going down 21-7, 21-8. PTI AH AH UNG