Basel, Mar 12 (PTI) Indian shuttler Kiran George bowed out in the men’s singles pre-quarterfinals after losing to Hong Kong’s Jason Gunawan, while young Tharun Mannepalli advanced to the second round after his opponent Kenta Nishimoto retired in the decider at the Swiss Open here.
George fought hard but lost 18-21, 21-16, 16-21 in a round-of-16 match, lasting 70 minutes.
India’s men’s doubles pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and M.R. Arjun also lost in the pre-quarterfinals, bowing out to Chen Cheng Kuan and Lin Bing-Wei of Chinese Taipei 17-21, 11-21 in 32 minutes.
The ace Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will take on Japan’s Hiroki Okamura and Kyohei Yamashita in a pre-quarterfinal match later in the night.
The 24-year-old Mannepalli, ranked 43rd in the world, was leading 16-21 21-16 7-2 when the fifth-seeded Nishimoto retired from the round of 32 match on Wednesday night due to a shoulder issue.
Mannepalli, who had reached the semifinals of the Macau Open last year, will next face Malaysia’s Justin Hoh.
In women’s singles, Malvika Bansod failed to get past Thailand’s world No. 4 Pornpawee Chochuwong, going down 11-21 15-21 in a lop-sided contest. It was her fourth defeat in as many meetings against the Thai player. PTI AM AM UNG
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