Guwahati Masters 2024 badminton: M Tharun stuns top seed Priyanshu Rajawat to make quarter-finals

M Tharun and the unseeded mixed doubles pair of K Sathwik Reddy and Vaishnavi Khadkekar knocked out the top seeds in their respective categories to advance to the quarter-finals of the Guwahati Masters 2024 badminton tournament on Thursday.

Reigning men’s singles national champion M Tharun beat top seed and fellow Indian badminton player Priyanshu Rajawat 24-22, 15-21, 21-13 in the men’s singles pre-quarters to enter the top eight of the BWF Super 100 tournament.

Tharun, 77th in the badminton world rankings, saved two game points in the opening game against world No. 35 Rajawat before seizing the initiative after a few long exchanges in the decider. The match lasted one hour and 10 minutes.

In the adjacent court, Reddy and Khadkekar came back from a game down to beat Satish Kumar Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath 18-21, 21-13, 21-17. They will now face fifth seed Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto for a place in the semi-finals.

Mads Christophersen of Denmark, the men’s singles fifth seed, was also knocked out as India’s Ravi put behind the disappointment of losing a close first game to win the match 21-23, 21-17, 21-14. He will face the People’s Republic of China’s Zhu Xuan Chen next.

In women’s singles, Tasnim Mir squandered three match points to lose to defending champion Lalinrat Chaiwan of Thailand by a 21-11, 18-21, 26-24 scoreline.

In women’s doubles, defending champions Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto eased into the last eight with a 21-17, 21-17 win over Amrutha Pramuthesh and Sonali Singh.

This is the second edition of the competition, organised jointly by the Badminton Association of India and Assam Badminton Association.