World Junior C'ships: Tanvi, Unnati, Rakshitha march towards medal rounds

Guwahati, Oct 15 (PTI) Indian shuttlers Tanvi Sharma, Unnati Hooda and Rakshitha Sree Ramraj overcame some anxious moments to advance to the pre-quarterfinals of the BWF World Junior Championships here on Wednesday.

Top seed Tanvi defeated Oei Winarto of Indonesia 15-12, 15-7, Unnati, seeded 8th, beat Alice Wang of USA 15-8, 15-5, and 10th seed Rakshitha recovered from a game down to outwit Singapore's Aaliyah Zakaria 11-15, 15-5, 15-8.

While the girls continued their march towards a possible medal, only Gnana Dattu TT will carry India's hopes in the boy's singles category after overcoming 15th seed Suryaksh Rawat 11-15, 15-6, 15-11 in an all-Indian round of 32 at the National Centre of Excellence.

Also advancing to the next round was the mixed doubles combination of Bhavya Chhabra and Vishakha Toppo.

The 14th-seeds had to quell a late fight back from Denmark's Aske Romer and Jasmin Willis to register a 15-13, 15-11 win.

India has fielded a 25-member contingent and girls singles players are favourites to add to the tally of 11 individual medals so far in the history of the competition.

Junior world no. 1 Tanvi was the first to take the court on Wednesday and looked like she was in complete control of the situation as she opened up a 9-4 lead against Winarto.

But errors began to creep in and the Indonesian bagged eight points in a row before Tanvi clinched the next six to pocket the opening game. The second game was a lop-sided affair as Tanvi dominated the exchanges.

"In the starting of first game I was playing well. 9-4, 9-5, I was winning easily. Suddenly, I started doing unforced errors. My coach then asked me to play rallies and then I won... The drift was a little tricky today, otherwise I was comfortable," said Tanvi, who will now face Chinese newcomer Li Yuan Sun for a place in the quarterfinals.

In the third round, Li upset ninth seed Liao Jui-Chi 15-12, 15-12.

Rakshitha also struggled with the conditions and made a plethora of errors, allowing her opponent Zakaria to open up a 12-2 lead. The 18-year-old did manage to close the gap thereafter, but it was too little too late.

However, Rakshitha then took control of the proceedings and won the next two games rather easily to wrap up the match in 32 minutes.

"At the start I took time to understand the court and also how my opponent was playing. Also, this 15 point game is new to us. When she reached 8 points, it was like a huge lead and I felt the pressure. But then I scored 6-7 points and gained confidence. After that it was easy," said Rakshitha, who will now face Sri Lankan fourth seed Ranithma Liyanage.

Ranithma defeated Malaysia's Ler Qi Eng 15-9, 15-12 to advance to the pre-quarterfinals.

In the boy's singles, Gnana Dattu,17, who was struggling with a muscle pull in the run-up to the individual tournament, took his time to get going against Suryaksh.

However, once he found his rhythm, the former Asian U-17 bronze medallist was in complete control.

Later, Rounak put up a strong fight against China’s Li Zhi Hang but could not avoid a 11-15, 12-15 loss.

Indian results (as of 3.30 PM): Boy's singles: Gnana Dattu TT bt 15-Suryaksh Rawat 11-15, 15-6, 15-11; 11-Rounak Chouhan lost to Li Zhi Hang (China) 11-15, 12-15; Lalthazuala Hmar lost to 14-Riyan Malhan (UAE) 13-15, 6-15 Women's singles: 1-Tanvi Sharma bt Oei Winarto (Indonesia) 15-12, 15-7; 8-Unnati Hooda bt Alice Wang (USA) 15-8, 15-5; 10-Rakshitha Sree bt Aaliyah Zakaria (Singapore) 11-15, 15-5, 15-8 Mixed doubles: 14-Bhavya Chhabra/Vishakha Toppo bt Aske Romer/Jasmin Willis (Denmark) 15-13, 15-11; C Lalramsanga/Taarini Suri lost to 8-Shuji Sawada/Aoi Banno (Japan) 10-15, 6-15. PTI ATK PM PM