Dutch junior badminton: Maisnam Meiraba, Gayatri Gopichand down seeded players, mixed day for India

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.