Satheishtharan pulls off a stunner in Russian Open

PETALING JAYA: Former Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) player R. Satheishtharan (pic) advanced to the men’s singles quarter-finals of the Russian Open after pulling off a shock win over top seed Pablo Abian of Spain.

Satheishtharan beat Abian, who is ranked 45th in the world, 21-12, 14-21, 21-16 in 58 minutes in Vladivostok yesterday.

Satheishtharan, who is only ranked 343rd in the world and the only Malaysian representative in the men’s singles, will take on India’s Mithun Manjunath for a place in the last four today.

National shuttler Ho Yen Mei continued to impress on the comeback trail when she reached the last eight following a 21-17, 21-17 win over Belgium’s Lianne Tan yesterday.

Yen Mei, who is playing in her first tournament in four months following an injury spell, will take on unseeded Indian player Vrushali Gummadi in the quarter-finals today.

She is the only Malaysian women’s singles player left after Lee Ying Ying and M. Thinaah were eliminated in the second round yesterday.

National No. 3 Ying Ying lost 21-13, 17-21, 19-21 to India’s Rituparna Das while Thinaah was beaten 14-21, 22-20, 9-21 by Germany’s Yvonne Li.

Mohd Arif Latif-Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub

beat Russians Rodion Alimov-Rodion Kargaev 21-17, 21-10 to step into the last eight as the only Malaysian pair in the men’s doubles. Arif-Azriyn will meet another Russian pair Denis Grachev-Pavel Kotsarenko in the quarter-finals.

There will be two mixed doubles pairs from Malaysia in the last eight. Pang Ron Hoo-Cheah Yee See stunned fourth seeds Rodion Alimov-Alina Davletova of Russia 21-19, 21-19 and will take on Russia-South Korea combination of Vladimir IvanovKim Min-kyung for a place in the last four.

Chen Tang Jie-Peck Yen Wei overcame another Russian pair Ilya Goncharov-Inga Budarian 21-2, 21-7 to earn a place in the quarter-finals.

They will be up against India’s third seeds Saurabh Sharma-Anoushka Parikh next.