On a mixed day of results for the Indian contingent at the Orleans Masters Super 300 event in France, national champion Mithun Manjunath and youngster Tanya Hemanth were among those to progress to the round of 16.
Experienced Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and B Sai Praneeth, however, were among those who lost their opening round matches.
Mithun, a finalist here in 2022, pulled off a solid opening round win in straight games. He saved six game points in the second game after trailing 15-20 to defeat Victor Svendsen of Denmark 24-22, 25-23.
Also progressing in men’s singles was Priyanshu Rajawat who defeated compatriot Kiran George to reach the men’s singles round of 16.
But it was the end of the road for Sameer Verma as Nhat Nguyen reversed the result from Spain Masters last week. Also losing was Sai Praneeth who had his opportunities in both games, but couldn’t push it to a decider as he bowed out in straight games against Jun Hao Leong of Malaysia.
In women’s singles, the sole victory came from the 19-year-old Tanya who produced an impressive performance against the host shuttler Leonice Huet to win in straight games. This was Tanya’s first BWF World Tour main draw win outside India.
Elsewhere in women’s singles, there was disappointment. On her return to action, Nehwal went down in straight games against Neslihan Yigit of Turkey. Playing with a heavily strapped right knee, the former world No 1 seemed to be moving alright but the Turkish Olympian proved too solid in rallies. Ashmita Chaliha let herself down with a plethora of errors in what was a decent section of the draw for her, going down in straight games against Myanmar’s Thet Htar Thuzar.
Aakarshi Kashyap also lost in three games against Natsuki Nidaira of Japan, in a rematch of her defeat last week in Madrid. The Indian took the second game but Nidaira took the first and third 21-8.
An impressive performance despite defeat came from former junior world No 1 Tasnim Mir who took the first game against world No 28 Yvonne Li but the German fought back to win the match in three games.
The only pair to advance in mixed doubles was that of Tanisha Crasto and Sai Pratheek, who are through to the mixed doubles second round with a straight-games win against an Algerian pairing. Ashwini Ponnappa-Sumeeth Reddy, Sikki Reddy-Rohan Kapoor suffered defeats.
In men’s doubles, the sole Indian presence of Dhruv Kapila and MR Arjun had won their opening round fixture on Tuesday. Ashwini and Tanisha will also be in action in the women’s doubles on Thursday.
Schedule for matches on Thursday is available here.
Here’s a look at all the Indian results from Wednesday:
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