Niluka and Thilini create a major upset

SRI LANKA'S Niluka Karunaratne and Thilini Jayasinghe created a major upset on the second day of the Satellite Open Badminton Championships continued at the Sugathadasa indoor stadium courts, yesterday.

The unseeded combination defeated the bottom seed pair of Wasapathi Paneri and Sumina Sheshtra of Nepal 15-3, 15-4 in the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles event.

The top seeds Thushara Edirisinghe and Chandrika de Silva also reached the semifinals while overcoming Amila Kalugalage and Rasangi Ranatunga 15-3, 15-4.

In the other quarterfinals Balan Tharpa and Pooja Sheshtra from Nepal defeated Eranga Fernando and Sulochana Ariyadasa 17-15, 15-6 while Chin Yoo and S. Ratnadevi of Malaysia defeated C. Kumarapperuma and N. Gayanthi 15-10, 15-9.

Meanwhile Sri Lanka's Diluka Karunaratne was knocked out from the pre quarterfinals of the men's singels event when he lost to Thailand's Tanon Gasaki in a three setter 15-10, 11-15, 15-11.

Sri Lanka's Chandrika de Silva also lost to the top seed Monthila Meemek of Thailand in the quarterfinals of the women's singels tournament.