India Junior International Grand Prix 2022: Top-seed Prince Dahal loses to qualifier Abhinav Mangalam

World Junior Number Nine and top-seeded at the India Junior International Grand Prix 2022, Prince Dahal, was in for a rude shock as he crashed out of the tournament after he lost to qualifier Abhinav Mangalam in the Round of 32. The badminton tournament was played at the P E Society’s Modern PDMBA Sports Complex on Friday.
Prince went down to unseeded qualifier 17-year-old Mangalam who set the tone to win the first game before losing the next but making a comeback in the last set and sealing his place in the pre-quarterfinal with a 25-23, 14-21, 22-20 victory, in a marathon battle lasting 55 minutes.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra lad Darshan Pujari and Pune-based Tara Shah advanced into the pre-quarterfinals with contrasting wins. Pujari, a Khelo India winner, got the better of Samarveer 21-8, 22-20, while seventh-seeded Shah needed three games to get the better of Stuti Agrawal 21-10, 17-21, 21-6 in a 44-minute women’s singles encounter.
In other singles matches, unseeded shuttler Rujula Ramu logged the only upset of the section shocking sixth seed Siti Nurshuhaini of Malaysia, 20-22, 21-19, 21-11 in a 44-minutes face-off. Meanwhile, Abhishek Santhoshkumar forced out 13th seed Md Nazmul Islam Joy of Bangladesh 21-14, 8-21, 21-10.