Orleans Masters 2023: Priyanshu Rajawat stuns Nishimoto to storm into quarter-finals

Orleans (France), April 6 Indian badminton player Priyanshu Rajawat stunned top seed Kenta Nishimoto of Japan to advance into the quarter-finals of the mens singles event at the Orleans Master 2023, here on Thursday.

Priyanshu, currently 58th in the world badminton rankings, defeated world No. 12 Kenta Nishimoto 21-8, 21-16 in a 42 minute long second round to seal a place in the last eight of the BWF Super 300 badminton tournament.

The Indian started strongly and cruised to a 10-0 lead in the first game. Nishimoto tried hard to get a foothold in the game but Priyanshu proved too strong for the Japanese shuttler and sealed the opener comfortably.

In the second game, Priyanshu was up against a stiffer challenge as Kenta raced to an early 6-2 lead. The Indian shuttler rallied to reduce the deficit and drew level at 11-11 before stepping up his game to edge out the Japanese shuttler.

Priyanshu will face Chinese Taipei's Chi Yu Jen, who defeated India's Mithun Manjunath 21-15, 21-19 in the second round match on Thursday.

In the mixed doubles, the Indian pair of Sai Pratheek and Tanisha Crasto lost 23-21, 17-21, 21-23 to Malaysia's Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei in a hard-fought match which lasted one hour.

On the other hand, Tanya Hemnath also lost 8-21, 17-21 to Japan's Natsuki Nidaira, drawing a close to India's challenge in the women's singles competition.

Earlier, Saina Nehwal crashed out on Wednesday after a first round loss to Turkey's Nesilhan Yigit.