Sannatasah, Tan-Lai in last 8 of India Open

Three national backup players moved into the quarter-final of the India Open Grand Prix Gold after defeating their respective opponents at the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium, Lucknow, India, today.

National junior player Sannatasah Saniru beat Ksenia Polikarpova of Russia 21-10 21-12 in just 28 minute.

National mixed doubles backup, Tan Aik Quan and Lai Pei Jin also marched into the quarter-final after defeating Irfan Fadhilah/Weni Anggraini of Indonesia 21-18 22-20 in 54 minutes.

Goh Soon Huat defeated compatriot Misbun Ramdan Misbun 21-16 13-21 21-16 in an hour-long match.

Three other national players however failed to make the quarter-final after losing to their respective opponents.

National men's backup shuttler, Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif who was drawn as seventh seed suffered a setback after he was shown the exit by India's 12th seed, R. M. V Gurusaidutt in 10-21 and 16-21 in 41 minutes.

National men's doubles pair, Chooi Kah Ming and Ow Yao Han also faced the same fate after losing to sixth seed, Andrei Adistia/Christopher Rusdianto of Indonesia 21-16, 19-21 and 16-21.

Sonia Cheah also lost to third seed, Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand 21-13, 5-21 and 11-21 in the women's singles.

Former world junior champion Mohd Zulfadli Zulkifli earlier had withdrawn from the tournament yesterday after nursing an injury when facing Thailand's Parianyawat Thongnuam. Zulfadli won the first game 21-16, lost 18-21 in the second game before trailing 11-16 in third set.

Soon Huat will face second seed, Kashyap Parupalli of India in the quarter-final while Sannatasah will meet sixth seed, Nozomi Okuhara of Japan. Tan and Lai on the other hand will square off with third seed, Danny Bawa Chrisnanta/ Vanessa Neo Yu Yan of Singapore.