India’s Aakarshi Kashyap and Sathish Karunakaran, on Wednesday, reached the Round of 16 of the women’s singles and men’s singles events respectively at the 2024 German Open Super 300.
While Kashyap defeated Ukraine’s Polina Buhrova, Sathish got the better off a higher ranked Misha Zilberman of Israel.
Kashyap, ranked 43rd in the world, was engrossed in a 63-minute long contest against the Ukrainian. The Indian surrendered the first game 21-23 before bouncing back to win the next two 21-17, 21-11 to complete a come-from-behind victory.
Sathish, meanwhile saw off a much tougher battle against Zilberman. The Indian, ranked 50th in the world, took the opening game 21-18, before losing the second 19-21 to head into a decider.
The match turned into a thriller with both players matching each other shot for shot, but Sathish managed to hold his nerve to take the third game 21-19 in a contest that lasted 82 minutes.
Sankar Muthusamy went down fighting 21-15, 18-21, 13-21 to the fifth seeded Brian Yang of Canada in their men’s singles Round of 16 clash.
Muthusamy had, on Tuesday, qualified for the main draw after two wins in the qualification rounds.
Moreover, the mixed doubles pair of Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramutesh lost 12-21, 14-21 to world No 14 duo of Goh Soon Huat and Lai Shevon Jemie in straight games.
The other Indian mixed doubles pair of Sathish and Aadya Variyath also lost 21-23, 17-21 to the third seeded pair Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet of Hong Kong, while the women’s doubles pair of sisters Swetaparna and Rutaparna Panda lost 17-21, 21-10, 14-21 to the pair from Germany.
India’s women’s singles shuttler Tanya Hemanth also went down 15-21, 13-21 to Ratchanok Intanon.