Guwahati Masters badminton: Malvika Bansod, Ashwini-Tanisha duo reach semifinals

GUWAHATI: Women's singles star Malvika Bansod and the doubles combination of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto registered contrasting victories to reach the semifinals of Yonex-Sunrise Guwahati Masters Super 100 badminton tournament here on Friday.

The 22-year-old Malvika, the only Indian women left in the singles draw, defeated Malaysia’s Karupathevan Letshanaa of Malaysia 21-12, 21-16 while Ashwini and Tanisha saved four game points in the opening game before getting the better of Indonesia’s Jesita Putri Miantoro and Febi Setianingrum 22-20, 21-16 to make it to the last four stage.

Malvika depended on her strong defence and her ability to engage her opponent in longer rallies in the quarterfinal and will now face Thailand’s Lalinrat Chaiwan, who upset third seed Sung Shuo Yun 21-10, 16-21, 21-16, for a place in the final.

Speaking about her match, Malvika said she was prepared for Letshanaa’s attacking game. “My execution was quite well in the opening game and I managed to engage her in long rallies in the second to win.”

In the doubles category, Tanisha stayed on course for a double crown as she also reached the mixed doubles semifinals. She and Dhruv Kapila defeated Indonesia’s Amri Syahnawi and Winny Kandow 21-16, 21-17 in the quarterfinals.

The hosts will also have a pair in the men’s doubles semifinals after Hariharan Amsakarunan and R Ruban Kumar upset 6th seeds Kapila and Vishnuvardhan Goud 21-18, 9-21, 21-18 in an all-Indian quarterfinal.

They will now face the Chinese Taipei combination of Lin Bing-Wei and Su Ching Heng for a spot in the final.

However, India’s challenge in men’s singles came to an end after Karthikeyan Gulshan Kumar co