Cuttack: Indian shuttlers Unnati Hooda, Tasnim Mir, Isharani Baruah, Kiran George and Rounak Chouhan maintained their strong run at the Odisha Masters to secure semi-final spots here on Friday.
In the men’s singles, second seed Kiran stayed solid with a commanding 21-11, 21-17 win over Rithvik Sanjeevi in 33 minutes. He will next face Rounak, who shocked seventh seed and compatriot Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian 21-19, 22-20 in a tight 41-minute battle.
Indonesia’s Muhamad Yusuf got the better of top seed Tharun Mannepalli 21-9, 22-20 in 49 minutes.
The women’s singles quarterfinals also saw shocks, with Tanya Hemanth defeating third seed and World Junior Championships silver medallist Tanvi Sharma 21-18, 21-17 in 39 minutes to reach the semifinals.
She will face fellow Indian Isharani Baruah, who has been in top form this week. Baruah, who began her campaign with a major upset over second seed Pornpicha Choeikeewong and received a walkover in the next round, extended her fine run by beating sixth seed Anmol Kharb 21-16, 21-14 in 41 minutes.