Thailand masters: Treesa-Gayatri, Manjunath enter quarters

Bangkok, February 1

Sixth seeds Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand entered the women’s doubles quarterfinals, but former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth was upstaged by lower-ranked compatriot Mithun Manjunath on a mixed day for Indians at the Thailand Masters badminton tournament here today.

With the tough three-game win over Srikanth, Manjunath, along with Ashmita Chaliha in the women’s draw, progressed to the last-eight stage of the singles’ competition. Treesa and Gayatri beat fellow Indians Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa 21-15 24-22 in their Round of 16 match.

Manjunath, the current national champion who is ranked 63rd in the world, had to sweat it out for 54 minutes to get the better of Srikanth 21-9 13-21 21-17 in a Round of 16 match. Ashmita also made the next round, beating Chinese Taipei’s Yu Po Pai 21-12 15-21 21-17. But Malvika Bansod made

an early exit.