Nagpur Girls cruised into quarterfinals at the RSL Kharkiv International 2018

The RSL Kharkiv International Challenge badminton tournament 2018 is going on in Ukraine. At the tournament, the shuttlers from Nagpur, Rasika Raje and Ritika Thaker have showcased excellency in their performance as they ventured for the quarterfinals on Friday.

The seventh seed Gayle Mahulette of Netherlands would have never thought that the unseeded Rasika would thump her in the match of just 32 minutes. Rasika sealed the spot of the last eight as she won the match by 21-18, 21-8.

Before her victory, the World No 129, Rasika was contending against the Dutch nemesis, but soon the Southpaw shuttler busted in the match and against the World No 89 in the second game also.

Rasika who is a trainee at the Gopichand Academy, Hyderabad, receiving coaching under the mentorship of coach Ajay Dayal and Robin Simon, has also thwarted Julia Bitsoukova of Belarus with a 21-9, 21-14 on Thursday, before defeating Oleksandra Kiselyova of Ukraine 21-5, 21-6.

Today, Raskia will square off against third seed Aliye Demirbag of Turkey to get into the semifinals.

In the Women’s Singles, the pair of Ritika Thaker and Simran Singhi foiled the third seeded Belarus pair of Alesia Zaitsava and Anastasiya Cherniavskaya in just 30 minutes by 21-17, 21-12. The pair has managed to seal their spot in the quarterfinals at the Kharkiv International Badminton tournament, Ukraine.

In the second round of the tournament, the state doubles champions Ritika and Simran ventured against Ukraine’s duo of Anastasiya Prozorova and Valeriya Rudokova and foiled the pair 21-7, 15-21, 21-8. The match was 45 minutes long and absolutely thrilling.

Today, in the quarterfinals, the brilliantly paired Indians, Ritika and Simran will bite a bullet against the Ukranian pair, Anna Mikhalkova and Yevgeniya Paksyutova.

Ritika, a 12th standard student at the Hislop College, Nagpur was foiled in the pre-quarterfinals by second seed Ksenia Polikarpova of Israel. In the second round, Latvia’s Leva Pope was ousted by Ritika 21-15, 21-15 in the Women’s singles.

For more updates on the International Badminton Challenge, Ukraine, stay tuned!