Iksan, Nov 7:
Teenage shuttlers Tanvi Sharma and Anmol Kharb provided bright sparks for Indian badminton before bowing out in the women’s singles pre-quarterfinals of the Korea Open.
With senior mainstays P.V. Sindhu and Lakshya Sen skipping the tournament to manage workloads following their European circuit outings, India’s campaign suffered early blows. Veteran H.S. Prannoy went down 23-21, 21-15 to South Korea’s Yoo Tae-bin in the opening round, marking his third straight first-round exit on the BWF World Tour, while the mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Rawat and K. Maneesha fell 24-22 in a third-game decider to China’s Zhu Yi Jun and Li Qian.
Emerging talents Kharb and Sharma reached the Round of 16 with determined opening-round displays. Seventeen-year-old Kharb produced a valiant challenge against second seed and three-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi, engaging the Japanese stalwart in fierce rallies before going down fighting 21-18, 21-18. Tanvi Sharma stretched Japan’s Hina Akechi in her pre-quarterfinal clash, taking an early 17-16 opening-game lead before Akechi closed out the match 21-18, 21-12.