World Junior Championships: India’s young brigade lit up the opening day of the main draw at the Odisha Masters 2025 with a series of impressive wins and major upsets, headlined by Rounak Chouhan, Isharani Baruah, and Tasnim Mir. Top performers Unnati Hooda, Tanvi Sharma, and Kiran George also moved confidently into the next round.
Chouhan, part of India’s historic World Junior Championships medal-winning squad, produced one of the biggest results of the day by defeating Syed Modi International title-winner Jason Gunawan in a gripping 64-minute R32 battle. After dropping the opening game 15-21, the Indian youngster fought back brilliantly to outplay the third seed from Hong Kong-China 21-17, 21-19. Chouhan will now face fellow Indian Varun Kapur, who defeated Bharath Latheesh of the UAE 21-16, 16-21, 21-19 in 56 minutes.
Top-seeded men’s singles players, Tharun Mannepalli and Kiran George, received byes in the R64. Tharun cruised into the pre-quarters with a commanding 21-5, 21-8 win over Manav Choudhary in just 27 minutes and will next meet compatriot Govind Krishna, who beat Kavin Thangam 21-12, 19-21, 21-15. Second seed Kiran George also advanced with a 21-12, 21-13 victory over Rajesh Srikar and will face Indonesia’s Dendi Triansyah in the next round.
