India’s Dev Ruparelia and Tanvi Patri reached the badminton singles quarterfinals at the Dakar Youth Olympic Games after winning their final group matches on November 3. Both finished unbeaten at the top of their respective four-player groups, keeping their campaigns alive as the competition moved into its knockout phase.
Second seed Ruparelia recovered from a narrow opening-game defeat against Canada’s Shaurya Gullaiya to win 23-25, 21-19, 21-11. The result completed three victories from three matches in men’s Group H, according to IANS’s report from Dakar.
Third seed Patri took a more direct route through her final group encounter, beating Australia’s Smrithi Adepu 21-4, 21-12 to lead women’s Group F. RevSportz independently reported the same scores for both Indian players.
Each singles competition began with 32 players split into eight groups. Only the group winners advanced, making Tuesday’s victories decisive for qualification. The quarterfinals are scheduled for November 4, with the medal matches set for November 5.
Archive illustration: mixed doubles badminton at London 2012, not the Dakar matches or the Indian players. Photo: Ian Patterson, CC BY 2.0. Resized; display may be cropped.
