Unseeded young Indian shuttlers Maisnam Meiraba and Gayatri Gopichand continued their good run at the Dutch Junior International in Haarlem on Friday by entering the pre-quarterfinals in their respective categories overcoming seeded opponents. Meiraba defeated Spain’s Ernesto Baschwitz (ninth seed) 21-13, 21-16 in just 35 minutes. The in-form Gopichand, winner of two All India Junior ranking titles, took even lesser time defeating Netherlands shuttler Amy Tan (10th seed) 21-17, 21-12 in 26 minutes. The second seed in the women’s U-19 draw, Vaishnavi Jakka Reddy, also progressed to the last eight but was stretched by Russia’s Viktoriia Kozyreva. The Indian triumphed 21-14, 19-21, 21-14 in 44 minutes.
Elsewhere, however, there was a disappointment for 12th seed Smit Toshniwal as she was ousted in a tough match by Korea’s Hye Jin Choi 18-21, 21-12, 21-17 in a 54-minute encounter. Fourth seed Anastasiia Shapovalova of Russia ended Samiya Imad Farooqui’s run with a 21-18, 21-15 win in 38 minutes. In girls’ doubles, Natasja P. Anthonisen and Clara Graversen of Denmark defeated India’s Teresa Jolly and Varshini Viswanath 21-10, 16-21, 21-12 in 42 minutes.
