Sydney [Australia], August 2 : Indian men’s singles shuttler Mithun Manjunath stormed to the pre-quarters as he got the better of 2021 BWF World Championships Gold medallist Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in straight games 21-19, 21-19 in a major upset during the Round of 32 at the ongoing Australia Open 2023 in Sydney on Wednesday.
The world no 50 Indian will now face the winner of Lee Zii Jia and Leong Jun Hao from Malaysia on Thursday in the last-16, as per Badminton Association of India (BAI) Media.
"UPSET ALERT @ManjunathMithun reigns supreme against WR-7 Loh Kean Yew 21-19, 21-19, entered pre-quarters : @badmintonphoto #AustraliaOpen2023 #IndiaontheRise #Badminton," tweeted BAI Media.
Shuttlers Prannoy HS, Kidambi Srikanth and Priyanshu Rajawat shined in the Round of 32 in the Australian Open Badminton tournament.
Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen, however, pulled out of his match midway against compatriot Indian Kiran George due to injury concerns. The Indian badminton player was trailing 0-5 in the opening game when he retired.
World No. 17 PV Sindhu, who has been struggling with poor form this year, overcame world No. 47 Ashmita Chaliha 21-18, 21-13 to make the round of 16.
Sindhu will face compatriot Aakarshi Kashyap, 40th in badminton rankings, on Thursday. Aakarshi Kashyap advanced to the second round with a 21-15, 21-17 win over Malaysia’s world No. 34 Goh Jin Wei in the first round.
Prannoy H.S., defeated Hong Kong badminton player Lee Cheuk Yiu 21-18, 21-16, 21-15.
Prannoy managed to win the first set but the Hong Kong national made a comeback in the second set. The deciding set was comprehensively won by Prannoy.
Kidambi triumphed over Japan's Kenta Nishimoto, defeating him 21-18, 21-7.
Priyanshu Rajawat got the better of Australian shuttler Nathan Tang, defeating him 21-12 and 21-16.
All three Indian badminton players will now progress to the Round of 16.
Malvika Bansod and Tasnim Mir were eliminated from the tournanemt in the first round itself.
The world number 43 Bansod lost to Chinese Taipei's Pai Yu Po by 20-22, 11-21. Pai Yu Po is ranked 20 places above Malvika Bansod.
Mir, meanwhile, suffered a 21-13, 21-7 defeat to world No. 56 Komang Ayu Cahya Dewi of Indonesia.
India’s campaign in mixed doubles ended after BS Reddy-Ashwini Ponnappa and Rohan Kapoor-N Sikki Reddy lost their respective first round matches.
BS Reddy-Ashwini Ponnappa were defeated by Japanese pair of Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito 13-21, 12-21 while Rohan Kapoor-N Sikki Reddy were beaten by Republic of Korea’s Seo Seungjae-Chae Yujung 14-21, 18-21.
The Australian Open started on August 1 and will end on August 6.
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