Malvika, Ashmita cruise into quarters

Cuttack: Continuing her good run of form, young Indian shuttler Malvika Bansod got the better of compatriot and junior world No. 1 Tasnim Mir in straight games to advance to the quarterfinals of the Odisha Open here on Thursday.

Bansod took just over half an hour to dispatch 16-year-old Tasnim 21-13 21-15 in the women's singles pre-quarterfinals of the BWF Super 100 tournament.

The 20-year-old Bansod, who had lost to PV Sindhu in the final of the Syed Modi International last week before defeating her idol Saina Nehwal at the India Open earlier this month, will take on the winner of the second clash between Tanya Hemanth and Vijetha Harish.

Fifth seed Ashmita Chaliha also booked a quarterfinal spot as she got the better of compatriot Anupama Upadhyay 21-17 21-16. She will now take on Rucha Sawant, who defeated Nikki Rapria to reach the final eight.

In men's singles, third seed Subhankar Dey, who had stunned sixth seed Xiaodong Sheng of Canada on Wednesday, notched a 21-16 21-14 victory over fellow Indian Rahul Yadav Chittaboina in 33 minutes.

Kiran George also moved to the men's singles quarterfinal with an easy 21-12 21-13 win over compatriot Chirag Sen in another second round match.

In the mixed doubles event, the India pairing of Dhruv Rawat and Shikha Gautam lost 11-21 14-21 to the Sri Lankan duo of Sachin Dias and Thilini Hendahewa in the second round, while Ayush Makhija and Deeksha Choudhar handed Chirag Arora and Nish Rapria a 21-5 21-16 loss to move to the quarterfinals.