Sankar Muthusamy qualifies for semis of BWF World Junior Championship
Sankar Muthusamy (Image Credit: Twitter)
Sankar Muthusamy is the only Indian player who is carrying India’s hopes of winning a medal in the ongoing BWF Junior World Championship. Unnati Hooda (women’s singles) lost her pre-quarterfinals in Women’s Singles earlier on October 27. Also, the mixed team finished 13th earlier. With this, Sankar is the only player from the Asian country who can have a chance at winning a medal.
He will lock horns against Thailand’s Teeraratsakul on October 29. He would be looking forward to winning this game and qualifying for the final. In the top-eight clashes, he beat world number 86 Chinese shuttler Hu Zhe An 21-18, 8-21, 21-16 in a 91-minute marathon. Notably, Muthusamy is the world’s number 110-ranked player at the moment. Before this game, he beat Thailand’s Nachakorn Pusri 21-10, 21-12 to reach the quarterfinals.
Also, the youngster has the opportunity to win a medal after Lakshya Sen in 2018. The latter is currently representing India at the highest level. Meanwhile, if Sankar wins the medal, it will be India’s 10th since the first edition of the tournament was played way back in 1992. The eight previous medallists from India were Saina Nehwal (gold, 2008; silver, 2006), Aparna Popat (silver, 1996), Siril Verma (silver, 2015), Gurusai Dutt (bronze, 2008), Sai Praneeth (bronze, 2010), HS Prannoy (bronze, 2010), Sameer Verma (bronze, 2011) and Lakshya Sen (bronze, 2018).
Talking about the game, the left-hander Indian shuttler started the game well and gained a lead. However, his Chinese counterpart regained the lead, only to fall behind once again. He also took an injury break but it didn’t work out in his favor.
