Indian commuters Mithun Manjunath and Ashmita Chaliha picked up stunning victories over their illustrious rivals to monopolize the limelight on day two of the Singapore Open Super 500 tournament here on Wednesday. As Mithun recorded a stunning 21-17 15-21 21-18 win over fellow countryman and world championship silver medalist Kidambi Srikanth in men’s singles, Ashmita shocked Thailand’s world number 12 Busanan Ongbamrungphan 21-16 21- 11 in ladies’ singles.
World No. 77 Mithun, a product of Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, next takes on Irishman Nhat Nguyen, while Ashmita takes on Chinese Han Yue. For two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu and in-form man HS Prannoy, it was also a good day in power as the two also progressed to the second round with easy wins.
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Sindhu looked to be in complete control as she prevailed 21-15 21-11 over World No. 36 Belgian Lianne Tan to face Vietnam’s Thuy Linh Nguyen. Prannoy, who reached the semi-finals of the Malaysia Masters last week, beat Thailand’s Sitthikom Thammasin 21-13 21-16 and will next meet third seed Chou Tien Chen, whom he recently beat at the Open from Malaysia.
London Olympics bronze medalist Saina Nehwal also avenged her Indian Open loss to compatriot Malvika Bansod with a 21-18 21-14 win to advance to the second round. Manjunath, who reached the Orleans Masters Super 100 final in April this year, came out on fire as he dominated the opener after taking a 6-2 lead. He held Srikanth at bay to comfortably seal the opener.
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Srikanth, however, turned things around after the switch as he enjoyed an 11-8 cushion at the break and continued to extend his lead to return to the competition. The decider went on a rollercoaster ride with the two beating him, but it was Manjunath, who showed better control as he secured a slim one-point advantage on the breath.
Srikanth managed to take a 16-15 lead at one point, but Manjunath didn’t let the opportunity pass and grabbed the final three points 18-18 to claim one of the biggest wins of his career nascent international. Manjunath, 24, was in fine form as he reached his first Super-100 final at the Orleans Masters in France last April. He had won four All-India ranking titles including the Senior Ranking Badminton tournament in December last year.
Earlier in the year, he contracted COVID-19 and had to withdraw from the India Open Super 500 in January. However, he made it to the India team for the Asia Badminton Team Championships in Malaysia after a semi-final at Syed Modi International and quarter-finals at Odisha Super 100. World No. 66 Ashmita also put on an outstanding performance as they defended from 5-10 down with an eight-point flurry to zoom in and earn bragging rights.
The 22-year-old from Assam also kept the pace going in the second game with a 7-2 lead. Busanan reduced the score to 6-7 but the Indian again collected nine points in a row to slam the door on her rival.
Earlier, Sindhu was slow to come out of the block, trailing 1-4, but she pulled away 7-7 never to look back. After leading 11-8 at the halfway point, she continued to push forward to pocket the opener. She continued her momentum in Game 2 with a 5-1 advantage. A three-point flurry helped Tan cut the lead, but a relentless Sindhu stepped up to seal the issue without too much ceremony.
Among others, Pooja Dandu and Arathi Sara Sunil advanced to the second round of women’s doubles after Chinese Taipei duo Hu Ling Fang and Lin Xiao Min withdrew from the tournament.
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