Haarlem: Rising Indian shuttler Tasnim Mir pulled off a sensational victory against top seeded Benyapa Aimsaard to enter women singles quarter-finals at Dutch Junior International tournament in Haarlem, Netherlands, on Saturday.
Gujarat girl Tasnim, who won the gold medal at the Asia Junior Badminton Championships and Dubai International last year, put up a brilliant effort in the decider to outclass World No. 132 Aimsaard of Thailand 21-9, 17-21, 21-15 in a thrilling three-setter, which lasted for 45 minutes.
Interestingly Aimsaard came into this match without losing a single game in the ongoing tournament. India No. 1 Tasnim will now face Aisha Galuh Maheswari of Indonesia in the last-8 match. 12th seeded Aisha overcame Kerala's Treesa Jolly 21-17, 21-7.
Meanwhile, in the men’s singles last-16 match, Nagpur teenager Rohan Gurbani put up a gritty performance before going down fighting against Russian Georgii Lebedev. After taking a 1-0 lead, the Indian could not hold his nerves as the opponent grabbed the next two hard-fought games to complete a 18-21, 21-19, 21-18 win.
Earlier in the mixed doubles, both the Indian pair suffered defeats during their third round matches.
