Indian youngster Kiran George has continued his winning run at the Thailand Masters as he defeated World Number 26 Weng Hong Yang in the men’s singles pre-quarterfinals on Thursday. He has now delivered two consecutive top-notch performances in the event.
George defeated the Malaysian Masters runner-up Yang in two games with a score of 21-11, 21-19. Yang defeated Srikanth Kidambi in the previous round. The 23-year-old shuttler will now take on the winner of the game between Ng Ka Long Angus of Hong Kong and Toma Junior Popov of France on Friday.
In the first round, George scripted the biggest upset in the Men’s Singles bracket of the Thailand Open when he got the better of World Number 9 Shi Yu Qi. He played sublime badminton to defeat the Chinese shuttler 21-18, 22-20 to progress to the pre-quarterfinals.
It is exceptional how George has come this far after he aced the qualifiers and reached the main stage. He defeated compatriot Kartikey Gulshan Kumar 21-14, 21-18, followed by a convincing 21-10, 21-14 victory over Korea’s Jeon Hyeok Jin. He will hope that this dream run continues as far as it can go.
Lakshya Sen will be in action later in the day and he will be up against China’s Li Shifeng in another Men’s Singles round of 16 clash. Sen is desperately looking to get back in form after a very below-par spell in his young career.
In the Men’s Doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will be in action against Bagas Maulana and Muhammad Shohubul Fikri of Indonesia in the pre-quarterfinals. All eyes will be on them as they are one of the leading Men’s Doubles pairings and will be in action after missing out on the Malaysian Masters.
Saina Nehwal and Ashmita Chaliha will also be taking the court in the Women’s Singles while PV Sindhu bowed out of the event. The double Olympic medallist lost to Canada’s Michelle Li 8-21, 21-18, 18-21. This is the first time since 2014 that Li managed to get the better off Sindhu.
Other than her, Kidambi Srikanth was also knocked out of the event as mentioned by Weng Hong Yang. The former World Number 1 lost 8-21, 21-16, 14-21 and gave a tough fight. But it was not enough as the Chinese shuttler was just too solid on the day.
Overall it has been a very mixed event for the Indian badminton contingent. All eyes will be on the Women’s Singles draws, Satwik-Chirag and also on Kiran George, who is on a dream run in Thailand.
