Macau Open 2026 Badminton: Kharb, Baruah and Mannepalli Storm Into Pre-Quarters

The Indian badminton team, consisting of Anmol Kharb, Isharani Baruah, and Tharun Mannepalli, has advanced to the pre-quarterfinals after their individual victories in the opening matches at the Macau Open 2026 Badminton sporting event.

Anmol Kharb and Isharani Baruah performed phenomenally in their respective matches in the Macau Open 2026 Badminton. The 8th seed, Anmol, defeated Mutiara Ayu Puspitasari of Indonesia 21-13, 21-16 in just 42 mins at the BWFSuper 300 opener. The fifth seed, Isharani Baruah, who is India's top-ranked women’s badminton player and the world’s no. 37, had a tough time against her opponent, Hung Yi-Ting. She won the first game 21-16, then dropped the second 19-21, but eventually won the decider 21-14. Ashmita Chaliha was leading 21-14 and 11-6 against Tung Ciou-Tong when the Chinese player retired in the second round and ultimately withdrew from the game. Shreya Lele, Aakarshi Kashyap, and Mansi Singh lost early in the Women’s singles game in the Macau Open 2026 Badminton event.

In an all-Indian battle in men’s singles, Tharun Mannepalli claimed 2 consecutive wins (15-21, 21-4, 21-6) against Rithvik Sanjeevi in a 65-minute three-round battle. Rounak Chouhan won against Wu Zhe Ying, a Chinese player, finishing the round at 21-19. In the women’s all-Indian opening matches, Shriyanshi Valishetty won the battle against Tasnim Mir, a former junior world-ranked 1st, with an alternate score of 21-18 and 21-15. She dipped in the second match at 19-21, but still managed to proceed in the second round. Kiran George and Sankar Subramanian bowed out in the opening round of the Macau Open 2026 Badminton tournament.

Ishaan Bhatnagar and Shruti Mishra advanced to the second round of the Macau Open 2026 Badminton. The duo defeated Germany’s Calvin Devereux and Desiree Toepffer with a huge score of 21-4 and 21-6. Other duos of Mohit Jaglan-Lakshita Jaglan, Dhruv Rawat-Maneesha K, Sathwik Reddy Kanapuram-Radhika Sharma, and Rohith Mohankumar-Riduvarshini Ramasamy had a bad day and could not manage a pass in the opening round of the Macau Open 2026 Badminton championship.

Sportscape believes that the pre-quarter-finals will be the real test of how far this group can go. The Indian Badminton team will want to move further in the Macau Open 2026 Badminton tournament. All eyes will be on Anmol Kharb, Isharani Baruah, and Tharun Mannepalli.