Anupama goes down fighting in Orleans Masters

Chandigarh, April 4

Panchkula shuttler Anupama Upadhyaya, who is currently at her career’s highest 65th rank in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings, made an exit from the Orleans Masters 2022 after going down fighting in the quarterfinals.

The winner of the Polish Open went down to Canadian-Chinese player Wen Yu Zhang. The match lasted over 56 minutes and Anupama displayed one of her best performances. The 17-year-old won the first game 21-17. She was looking good to win the next game, but Zhang managed to put the score level by registering a 22-24 win.

In the final game, Zhang logged an 18-21 win to sail into the semis. “It was a tough outing… a neck-to-neck tie. I don’t know if it’s correct to say, but some dicey line calls at 14-10 16-12, when I was leading in the third game really let me down. Nevertheless, judges are the best to give points,” said Anupama.

She further added, “I am taking a vast experience from here. In last three months, I have improved my world rankings. I will try to gain some more points in future tournaments.”

A direct entry to the main draw, she had defeated France’s LéOnice Huet 21-17 21-16 and Switzerland’s Jenjira Stadelmann 21-12 2-18. She is currently the fifth top ranked Indian player in the BWF rankings after PV Sindhu (seventh rank), Saina Nehwal (23rd rank), Aakarshi Kashyap (51st rank) and Ashmita Chaliha (60th rank). Anupama trains at Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, Bengaluru, under coach Vimal and mentor Prakash Padukone.