Indian shuttler B Sai Praneeth advanced to the second round of the Thailand Masters 2023 Super 300 Badminton Tournament with a win over Denmark's Mads Christophersen in Bangkok on Wednesday.
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Praneeth beat world No. 53 Christophersen 21-13 21-14 in a match that lasted 31 minutes. He will now face Jeon Hyeok Jin of South Korea in the second round. Praneeth has not made it to the semi-finals of any BWF Tour event since winning bronze at the BWF world championships in 2019.
On the other hand, Kiran George also made it to the second round. Kiran saw off a stiff challenge from Chinese Taipei's Chia Hao Lee to win 21-17 19-21 23-21. He will now take on third seed Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong for a place in the quarter-finals. Sameer Verma, Priyanshu Rajawat, and Mithun Manjunath, however, lost their first-round matches. Verma lost 14-21 16-21 to sixth seed Li Shifengof China. WhileRajawat lost to Heo Kwang-hee of South Korea 21-14 19-21 25-27. And Manjunath to fifth seed Kenta Nishimoto of Japan 18-21 12-21.
In women's singles, Ashmita Chaliha defeated compatriot Anupama Upadhyaya 21-16 21-19 to move into the second round. She will face next sixth seed Line Kjærsfeldt of Denmark. Chaliha is now the only remaining Indian challenge in the category of the Thailand Masters 2023. While Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker lost 8-21 10-21 to sixth seeds Liu Sheng Shu and Zhang Shu Xian of China in women's doubles.
In mixed doubles, Rohan Kapoor and N Sikki Reddy defeated the Canadian pair of Ty Alexander Lindeman and Josephine Wu 21-11 21-16 to enter the second round. But B Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa went down 11-21 17-21 to fourth seeded Indonesian pair of Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto and Lisa Ayu Kusumawati. Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto seeded eighth, also sailed through to the round of 16. They got the better of Thailand's Ratchapol Makkasasithorn and Chasinee Korepap with a 21-17, 21-5 scoreline.