Orleans Masters: India's Priyanshu Rajawat reaches quarterfinals

India's Priyanshu Rajawat stormed into the men's singles quarterfinals of the Orleans Masters Super 300 badminton tournament with a straight sets win over top seed Kenta Nishimoto of Japan in France on Thursday.

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World number 58 Rajawat beat world number 12 Nishimoto 21-8 21-16, who won the Madrid Spain Masters title last Sunday. Rajawat will next face Yu Jen Chi after the Chinese Taipei shuttler prevented an all-Indian clash by defeating Mithun Manjunath.

Rajawat, who was a part of India's Thomas Cup winning team, got off to a flying start, taking a 10-0 lead in the first game and giving Nishimoto no chance. Nishimoto was completely out of touch in the first game and managed only eight points. After losing the first game, the Japanese made a better start in the second game to lead 6-2 but Rajawat soon leveled the scores at 10-10. After that, Nishimoto was leading 11-10 at the break. The Indian then scored six consecutive points to lead 16-11. The Japanese tried to make a comeback. But Rajawat retained the lead by winning the second game as well to seal the match.

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However, the 2022 finalist Mithun Manjunath bowed out in straight games of the Orleans Masters. The Indian national champion paid the price first for just a brief lapse of concentration in the opening game. Later, when he looked set to force the decider by leading 19-17, Yu Jen Chi came back to win four straight points to close the match out. It was a defeat of fine margins for Mithun. He made costly errors at critical times while otherwise playing a solid match.

In women's singles, Tanya Hemanth will meet Natsuki Nidaira of Japan at the Orleans Masters 2023. While three doubles pairing of MR Arjun-Dhruv Kapila, Tanisha Crasto, Ashwini Ponnappa, and Sai Pratheek K and Tanisha are also in the fray.