India’s Sameer Verma continued his dominant form as he stormed into the men’s singles quarterfinals of the Toyota Thailand Open Super 1000 tournament on Thursday. Sameer steamrolled Rasmus Gemke of Denmark in straight games to register a comfortable second-round win in Bangkok. The world number 31 Indian needed just 39 minutes to see off Gemke 21-12, 21-9. Also Read - BWF World Tour Finals 2021 Results: PV Sindhu Ends Campaign With Win, Kidambi Srikanth Exits With Defeat
From the very start, Sameer took control of the proceedings and dictated his terms over Gemke. Inside 20 minutes, the 26-year-old took the opening game and never looked back. Coming off from a win over eighth seed Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia in the first round, Sameer raised the level of his game a notch higher and sealed the match in the second game 21-9 to advance into the last eight. Also Read - BWF World Tour Finals Live Streaming Badminton in India: Where to Watch PV Sindhu vs Tai Tzu Ying, Kidambi Srikanth vs Anders Antonsen BWF World Tour Finals - Preview, Predictions, India Time
This was Sameer’s third victory over Gemke. The Indian had defeated the world number 17 Danish player in their previous two clashes. Sameer will face third seed Anders Antonsen of Denmark, who received a walkover, in the quarterfinals. Also Read - Thailand Open 2021: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Ashwini Ponnappa Lose Hard-Fought Semifinal as India's Challenge Ends
“I was very confident before the match. I came prepared. Next up I have Anders Antonsen from Denmark. I’m feeling very confident, so let’s see. It will be tough but I will play my best,” Sameer said.
In other matches, India’s top mixed doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa also sailed into the quarterfinals with a hard fought 22-20, 14-21, 21-16 win over the German duo of Mark Lamsfuss and Isabel Herttrich in a match that lasted close to an hour.
In the first game, the Indian pair banked on their powerful strokes from the baseline that helped them to edge their opponents with a scoreline of 22-20.
However, the Germans came out all guns blazing in the second game and punished Indians for their complacency. They took the game 21-14 to force a decider.
In the decider, Mark and Isabel took a mid-interval lead but Rankireddy and Ashwini regrouped well to register a 21-16 win and keep their campaign alive in the tournament.
(With PTI Inputs)
