Guwahati: Indian shuttlers Tanvi Sharma, Unnati Hooda and Rakshitha Sree Ramraj overcame some anxious moments to advance to the pre-quarterfinals of the BWF World Junior Championships here on Wednesday.
Top seed Tanvi defeated Oei Winarto of Indonesia 15-12, 15-7, Unnati, seeded 8th, beat Alice Wang of USA 15-8, 15-5, and 10th seed Rakshitha recovered from a game down to outwit Singapore’s Aaliyah Zakaria 11-15, 15-5, 15-8.
While the girls continued their march towards a possible medal, only Gnana Dattu TT will carry India’s hopes in the boy’s singles category after overcoming 15th seed Suryaksh Rawat 11-15, 15-6, 15-11 in an all-Indian round of 32 at the National Centre of Excellence.
Also advancing to the next round was the mixed doubles combination of Bhavya Chhabra and Vishakha Toppo.
The 14th-seeds had to quell a late fight back from Denmark’s Aske Romer and Jasmin Willis to register a 15-13, 15-11 win.
“In the starting of first game I was playing well. 9-4, 9-5, I was winning easily. Suddenly, I started doing unforced errors. My coach then asked me to play rallies and then I won... The drift was a little tricky today, otherwise I was comfortable,” said Tanvi, who will now face Chinese newcomer Li Yuan Sun for a place in the quarterfinals. In the third round, Li upset ninth seed Liao Jui-Chi 15-12, 15-12.