It was heartbreak for former junior world No. 2 Meiraba Luwang Maisnam as he was knocked out of the third edition of the Odisha Masters, which began at Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Cuttack on Tuesday. World No. 59 Meiraba played his heart out, but it was India’s Darshan Pujari, ranked outside the top 100, who won 21-16, 19-21, 21-17 in the round of 64.
Although the player from Manipur earned a brilliant win against HS Prannoy in the Thailand Open Super 500 in Bangkok in May this year, it hasn’t been a great 2024 for the 21-year-old. Besides a third-place finish in the Telangana International Challenge in November, he hasn’t made it to the last-four stage even once, although he took part in about 19 tournaments including this. In his last event at the Syed Modi India International, he made it to the quarterfinals, but there he lost to Lakshya Sen, who won the title in the end.
There was another upset in the round of 64 in men’s singles, as India’s Manraj Singh put up a mighty show to beat Vietnam’s Nguyen Hai Dang, ranked 60 in the world, 12-19, 12, 21, 26-24. World No. 169 Manraj also made it to the round of 16 in the Guwahati Masters, but there he lost to China’s Wang Zheng Xing in straight games. However, this time he will surely look to do better and make it to the medal rounds.
Among other results, Rithvik Sanjeevi Satish Kumar also advanced to the round of 32 in men’s singles as he beat Lakshay Sharma 21-14, 19-21, 21-9. As far as the tournament is concerned, over 290 players from 29 countries are taking part in the event. Although not many big names are competing, this is a big chance for the young India players to hone their skills and give their best against players from Vietnam, Malaysia, and China, who are competing in good numbers.
Meanwhile, Odisha deputy chief minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo graced the opening day and inaugurated the event with the ceremonial coin toss.
It was heartbreak for former junior world No. 2 Meiraba Luwang Maisnam as he was knocked out of the third edition of the Odisha Masters, which began at Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Cuttack on Tuesday. World No. 59 Meiraba played his heart out, but it was India’s Darshan Pujari, ranked outside the top 100, who won 21-16, 19-21, 21-17 in the round of 64.
Although the player from Manipur earned a brilliant win against HS Prannoy in the Thailand Open Super 500 in Bangkok in May this year, it hasn’t been a great 2024 for the 21-year-old. Besides a third-place finish in the Telangana International Challenge in November, he hasn’t made it to the last-four stage even once, although he took part in about 19 tournaments including this. In his last event at the Syed Modi India International, he made it to the quarterfinals, but there he lost to Lakshya Sen, who won the title in the end.
There was another upset in the round of 64 in men’s singles, as India’s Manraj Singh put up a mighty show to beat Vietnam’s Nguyen Hai Dang, ranked 60 in the world, 12-19, 12, 21, 26-24. World No. 169 Manraj also made it to the round of 16 in the Guwahati Masters, but there he lost to China’s Wang Zheng Xing in straight games. However, this time he will surely look to do better and make it to the medal rounds.
Among other results, Rithvik Sanjeevi Satish Kumar also advanced to the round of 32 in men’s singles as he beat Lakshay Sharma 21-14, 19-21, 21-9. As far as the tournament is concerned, over 290 players from 29 countries are taking part in the event. Although not many big names are competing, this is a big chance for the young India players to hone their skills and give their best against players from Vietnam, Malaysia, and China, who are competing in good numbers.
Meanwhile, Odisha deputy chief minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo graced the opening day and inaugurated the event with the ceremonial coin toss.