Commonwealth Games bronze medallist RMV Gurusaidutt and former national champion Sameer Verma entered the quarterfinals of the Swiss Open World Super 300 tournament after registering contrasting wins in men’s singles in Basel on Thursday.
On a comeback trail after recovering from an ankle injury, Gurusaidutt defeated compatriot Sourabh Verma 21-18 21-14, while second seed Sameer eked out a 11-21 21-18 21-16 win over Japan’s Yu Igarashi in another match. Sameer’s match lasted for an hour and five minutes while Gurusaidutt emerged winner in a matter of 40 minutes.
Guru faces Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen, while Sameer takes on Japan’s Kento Momota next. Momota, one of the brightest young talents in badminton, has been on a comeback trail since a gambling-related suspension in 2016 and will offer a stiff challenge to Sameer.
Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka, however, suffered a 8-21 13-21 loss to second seeded Japanese Minatsu Mitani.
Last night, men’s doubles pair of Arjun MR and Ramchandran Shlok defeated Chinese Taipei’s Po Li-Wei and Yang Ming-Tse 21-17 14-21 21-15 to reach the second round where they will face fourth seeds Jones Ralfy Jansen and Josche Zurwonne from Germany later on Thursday. Francis Alwin and K Nandagopal will be in action as well.
But Anura Prabhudesai lost 12-21 12-21 to top seeded Japanese Sayaka Takahashi to bow out.
(With PTI inputs)