India’s campaign at the Macau Open Super 300 badminton tournament received a boost on Thursday with Anmol Kharb and Ashmita Chaliha advancing to the women’s singles quarterfinals, even as the country’s hopes in all other categories came to an end.
Ashmita continued her strong run on the BWF World Tour, overcoming USA’s Ishika Jaiswal 22-20, 21-15 in a hard-fought round-of-16 encounter that lasted 32 minutes. The world No. 63 displayed composure in crucial moments, particularly in the opening game, before taking control of the contest to secure her place in the last eight.
The unseeded Indian has enjoyed a promising season, having already reached the quarterfinals of the Malaysia Masters and China Masters, while also making the semifinals of the Azerbaijan International earlier this year. She will now face South Korea’s Kim Min Sun for a place in the semifinals.
Anmol Kharb, seeded eighth in the tournament, progressed under different circumstances. The world No. 51 was leading Malaysia’s former world junior and Youth Olympic champion Goh Jin Wei 12-4 in the opening game when her opponent was forced to retire after just eight minutes of play. The result handed Anmol a straightforward passage into the quarterfinals, where a tougher challenge awaits against China’s fourth-seeded Han Qian Xi.
The remainder of India’s women’s singles contingent, however, could not advance beyond the pre-quarterfinal stage. Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj suffered a 15-21, 9-21 defeat to Kim Min Sun, while Shriyanshi Valishetty went down 16-21, 16-21 against South Korea’s Kim Min Ji.
Isharani Baruah came closest to joining her compatriots in the quarterfinals. Despite competing strongly throughout her match, she was unable to capitalize on opportunities in both games and eventually lost 19-21, 21-23 to South Korea’s Park Ga Eun in a contest lasting 54 minutes.
India’s campaign in men’s singles also concluded on Thursday. Tharun Mannepalli put up a spirited fight before losing 22-24, 15-21 to China’s Dong Tian Yao, while Rounak Chouhan was beaten 13-21, 17-21 by Hu Zhe An.
In mixed doubles, Ishaan Bhatnagar and Shruti Mishra bowed out after a closely contested three-game battle against sixth-seeded Chinese pair Li Hong Yi and Huang Ke Xin. The Indians claimed the opening game and held an advantage in the second but failed to close out the match, eventually losing 21-19, 20-22, 16-21.
With India’s men’s doubles and women’s doubles campaigns having already ended earlier, the nation’s hopes now rest solely on Anmol and Ashmita as they look to continue their impressive runs in Macau.
