India's Sankar Subramanian Stuns World No. 2 Anders Antonsen In Swiss Open Quarter-Finals
NDTV
21-year-old Sankar Subramanian is currently ranked 64th in the world, but defeated three-time World Championships medallist Anders Antonsen.
India's Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian caused a major upset by knocking out world no. 2 Anders Antonsen of Denmark in a thrilling three-game contest to reach the men's singles quarterfinals of the Swiss Open Super 300 badminton tournament here. The 21-year-old from Tamil Nadu, a silver medallist at the 2022 World Junior Championships and currently ranked 64th in the world, put up an impressive display of defense to defeat the three-time World Championships medallist 18-21 21-12 21-5 in a 66-minute contest.
This win marks one of the biggest victories of Subramanian's career, which will boost his confidence as he continues his transition into the senior ranks.
Next, the Indian will face world no. 31 Christo Popov of France, a 2019 World Junior Championships silver medallist. Popov had a strong 2024 campaign, claiming titles at the German and Hylo Opens. He was the runner-up at this year's German Open.
Subramanian is the sole Indian singles player remaining in the tournament, while the women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also advanced to the quarterfinals. The world no. 9 pair defeated Germany's Amelie Lehmann and Selin Hubsch 21-12 21-8 on Thursday.
Among other Indians, Isharani Baruah put up a valiant fight but lost 19-21 21-18 18-21 to China's Han Qian Xi in 63 minutes.
Anupama Upadhyaya was ousted by Indonesia's world no. 11 Putri Kusuma Wardani as she lost 17-21 19-21 in another women's singles match.
