Badminton Asia Junior Championships 2022: Unnati Hooda makes it to the pre-quarterfinals

Top seed Unnati Hooda on Wednesday advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the ongoing Badminton Asia Junior Championships 2022 U17 and U15 in Nonthaburi, Thailand.

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Odisha Open champion Unnati registered easy wins in the women's singles against Indonesia's Dea Nur Fadilla by 21-7, 21-11. On the other hand, Anmol Kharb also made it to the pre-quarterfinals. Uttarakhand's Anmol had to sweat it out against Thailand's Ratnacha Sompoch in the U17 women's singles to win 21-12, 21-19. Meanwhile, Neer Nehwal was the only Indian player to face defeat in the U17 category. He lost 21-11 9-21 19-21 in the men's singles round of 32 to Japan's Kazuma Kawano despite fighting hard.

At the same time, in the U15 singles category, Mohammad Ali Mir, Ishita Negi, and three other Indians made it to the round of 32 on the second day of the tournament. Mohammad Ali and Gnana Dattu won in straight games against Paramat Pumleng of Thailand and Cheung Sai Shing of Hong Kong respectively. Ali defeated Paramat 21-16 21-18 while Dattu defeated Cheung Sai 21-11 21-13.

While Anish Thoppani defeated ninth seed Maharishiel Gain of Indonesia 21-14 18-21 23-21 in a tight match. In the women's section, fifth seed Ishita beat Thailand's Lada Na Nakorn 21-9 21-12 in a one-sided match. While Sampriti Pal crashed out of Japan's Ria Haga 21-16 21-16.

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However, Abhinav Garg, Suhasi Verma, and Tanvi Sharma had to face defeat in the U15 category. In the first round match of U15 men's doubles, the pair of Bjorn Jaison and Aathish Sreenivas PV defeated Sri Lankan Mihila Jayaweera and Janeesha Sethuhewa 21-18 21-17. Due to the pandemic, this continental competition is being organized after two years. The Badminton Asia Junior Championships 2022 will run till December 4.