Cuttack: The action continued on third day of the Odisha Masters 2023 which saw Ashwini Ponnappa-Tanisha Crasto, Unnati Hooda, Kiran George, Rutuparna Panda-Swetaparna Panda making progress to the next round here at the JN Indoor Stadium.
In first high-octane clash of the day, Indian duo Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila were up against Indonesia’s Amri Syahnawi and Winny Oktavina Kandow in Round of 16 Mixed Doubles match. The Indian pair showed aggression right from the first point and took a 7-3 lead in a jiffy. The Indian pair closed down the first set with a score of 21-16. In the second set of the match, the Indian pair took a 13-4 lead and put their opponents on backfoot. The Indian pair entered the Quarterfinals as they won the match 21-16, 21-12.
Ashwini Ponnappa and Rohan Kapoor were up against Sumeeth Reddy (8) and Sikki Reddy in their Round of 16 Mixed Doubles match. In a match that saw momentum swinging continuously, it was Sumeeth and Sikki who got the better of Ashwini-Rohan in the first set of the match with a score of 21-14.
At the beginning of the second set, Ashwini-Rohan started showing urgency and putting pressure on Sumeeth-Sikki. Ashwini-Rohan came out all guns blazing, galloping to 11-9 lead as both the teams were involved in fiercely-contested rallies multiple times at the interval. Ashwini-Rohan then won the second set 21-17 to take the match in the decider. In the decider, Ashwini-Rohan carried the momentum from the second set and took the lead early but Sumeeth-Sikki fought back and the score was 14-12 in favour of Sumeeth-Sikki at the interval. But, Sumeeth-Sikki closed down the game with a score of 21-14 and progressed to the Quarterfinals.
In other matches, Unnati Hooda won her match against Ashmita Chaliha with a score of 21-18, 21-16 to advance to the next round. Rutuparna Panda-Swetaparna Panda won their match against Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker to make it to the Quarterfinals. Former World No.1 Nozomo Okuhara won her match against Stephanie Widjaja with a score of 21-11 and 21-16. Chirag Sen won his match against Mads Christophersen with a score of 21-10, 15-21 and 21-17.
In the Women’s Doubles category, the pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto were up against Arul Bala Radhakrishnan and Varshini Viswanath Sri. The duo of Ashwini-Tanisha progressed to the next round with an easy 21-13 and 21-13 win over their opponents.
Fans can come to the stadium and watch their favourite players in action at the JN Indoor Stadium as it is free entry for everyone.
