Hylo Open 2024: Rakshitha upsets world No. 25 as four Indians advance into quarterfinals

Indian teenager Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj pulled off a remarkable victory at the Hylo Open, defeating Scottish veteran and world No. 25 Kirsty Gilmour in straight sets 21-14, 21-12 to enter the quarterfinals here on Thursday.

Malvika Bansod, Ayush Shetty and Satish Kumar Karunakaran also entered the last eight rounds in their respective categories, capping a splendid day for the Indians at the Super 300 meet.

The 17-year-old Rakshitha, who trains at the Gopichand Academy, was at her aggressive best to eliminate the tournament second seed in just 36 minutes.

The World no. 75 from Tamil Nadu will face world ranked 38 Julie Dawall Jakobsen of Denmark in the quarterfinals.

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World No. 34 Malvika, who is the tournament sixth seed, defeated Irina Amalie Andersen of Denmark 21-13, 21-16 in the women’s singles pre-quarterfinals.

Malvika will face fourth-seeded Nguyen Thuy Linh of Vietnam in her last-eight fixture.

In the men’s singles, Shetty cruised past Giovanni Toti of Italy 21-13 21-9 in 33 minutes, while seventh seed Sathish Kumar defeated Harry Huang of England 21-12, 21-15 in 39 minutes.

Sathish Kumar will face Christo Popov of France, while Ayush will be up against Kalle Koljonen of Finland.