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Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun upset Christo and Toma Junior Popov at Malaysia Masters, advancing in men’s doubles with a statement opening round victory.
Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun in action (Picture credit: Badminton Photo)
Indian men’s doubles duo of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun on Tuesday pulled off a massive win against the seventh-seeded pair of Christo and Toma Junior Popov at the Malaysia Masters, sounding a warning alarm in the opening round of the tournament.
Having been pitted against the European Championships runners-up, Hariharan and Arjun had started as the underdogs and weren’t expected to turn up as winners.
The Indian pair won the first game, a nervy 21-19 and they kept the confidence to pull off a 21-15 win in the second game and show the Popov brothers the exit door.
Hariharan and Arjun will next play either the Indonesian duo of Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin or the Chinese pair of Hu Ke Yuan and Lin Xiang Yi. The Indian duo earlier played in the quarterfinals of the Orleans Masters in March, where they lost to Carnando and Bagas Maulana.
Last year, Hariharan and Arjun won the Telangana India International Challenge in November, besides the Turkiye International Challenge and Al Ain Masters in October. They also won the St. Denis Reunion Open in May.
Hariharan and Arjun are currently ranked 31st in the world and if they go deep into the Malaysia Open, they can enter the top 30.
Earlier in the day, the mixed doubles duo of Sathwik Kanapuram and Radhika Sharma won their qualifier match against the home pair of Datu Asrah and Clarissa San. Aakarshi Kashyap lost her women’s singles qualifier to Park Ga Eun of South Korea.
The women’s doubles duo of Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam lost their opening round match to Canada’s Jackie Dent and Crystal Lai. Ashmita Chaliha won her women’s singles qualifier against Chinese Taipei’s Pai Yu Po.
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