India continued its good run at the BWF Para Badminton World Championships as the men’s doubles wheelchair duo of Prem Kumar Ale and Abu Hubaida entered the quarterfinals here on Thursday.
Ale and Hubaida, the world no. 6 pair in men’s doubles WH1-WH2, got the better of the Spanish duo of Ignacio Fernandez and Francisco Motero 21-12, 21-8 to top the group.
Ale highlighted Wednesday’s win against Thailand’s Dumnern Junthong and Anuwat Sriboran 21-17, 23-21 was the turning point.
“That win (over Thailand) was important for us to cement our place in the elimination round,” he said.
“It has been a good tournament so far. We have worked hard for the World championships for a long time, especially on our accuracy and combination and now the results are showing.
“Hopefully we can go back home with a podium finish this time,” said Ale who along with Hubaida claimed five medals this year, including one silver.
Ale and Hubaida will next face France duo Thomas Jacobs and David Toupe on Friday.
Defending champions advance
Meanwhile, top seed Pramod Bhagat and Manoj Sarkar lived up to their billing and reached the last eight stage of men’s doubles SL3-SL4 as did second-seeded Chirag Baretha and Raj Kumar in men’s doubles SL3-SU5.
Bhagat and Sarkar overcame Korea’s Joo Dongjae and Shin Kyung Hwan in three games 21-17, 16-21, 21-10, while Baretha and Kumar thrashed Jorge Enrique Moreno and Jean-Paul Ortiz Vargas of Colombia 21-2, 21-7.
In other exciting matches, Worlds debutants Hardik Makkar and Ruthick Ragupathi rallied from a game down to defeat Chinese Taipei’s Gui Yu Pu and Yeh En-Chuan 18-21, 21-16, 21-19 in their last group match.
