India’s Jr shuttlers storm into quarterfinals at Badminton Asia

India’s young shuttlers put up a stellar show on Friday at the 3rd edition of Badminton Asia U-17 and U-15 Championships, with Lakshya Rajesh, Diksha Sudhakar, and Shaina Manimuthu storming into the quarterfinals.

In the U-17 girls’ singles, sixth seed Diksha Sudhakar showcased her calm under pressure, defeating Chinese Taipei’s Pin Hsuan Chiang 21-19, 21-15 to secure a place in the last eight. Lakshya Rajesh also advanced with a convincing 21-16, 21-11 win over Korea’s Lee Yun Seo.

Top seed Shaina Manimuthu was equally dominant in the U-15 girls’ singles pre-quarterfinals, outplaying China’s Li Man Lin 21-17, 21-16 with consistent control from start to finish.

India’s doubles pairs were in fine form as well. In the girls’ doubles, Aditi Deepak Raj and BV Ponnamma Vriddhi staged a thrilling comeback to beat Korea’s Lee Yun Seo and Park Yoo Jeong 17-21, 21-15, 21-17. In boys’ doubles, Charan Ram Thippana and Hari Krishna Veeramreddy produced a clinical 21-14, 21-8 victory against Japan’s Kosuke Shinohara and Hiroto Nakatsuka.

Jagsher Singh Khangurra cruised into the boys’ singles quarterfinals with a 21-12, 21-17 win over Malaysia’s Winson Choh. In a closely fought U-15 boys’ singles match, Wazir Singh narrowly missed out on a quarterfinal spot after a thrilling 19-21, 22-20, 22-24 loss to Indonesia’s seventh seed Revan Adrilleo Saputra.

India’s juniors continue to signal their rising stature in Asian badminton with impressive performances across singles and doubles events.