China Masters 2024 badminton: Anupama Upadhyaya stuns Beiwen Zhang in opening round
India’s B Sumeeth Reddy-N Sikki Reddy also won in mixed doubles but Priyanshu Rajawat and Aakarshi Kashyap lost in men’s and women’s singles events.
Badminton
India’s Anupama Upadhyaya upset world No. 15 Beiwen Zhang of the USA to make the second round of the women’s singles event at the China Masters 2024 badminton tournament, which began in Shenzhen on Tuesday.
The 19-year-old Anupama Upadhyaya, 50th in the world badminton rankings, held her nerve under pressure to beat her higher-ranked opponent, also 15 years her senior, by a 21-17, 8-21, 22-20 scoreline in 48 minutes.
After fending off a late surge by Zhang, an Olympian and Pan American Games champion, in the opening game, Anupama found herself completely outplayed by the American in the second.
The decider was a bitterly contested one before Anupama finally emerged victorious. The win sets up Anupama for a second round clash against Japan’s Natsuki Nidaira, who upset compatriot Aya Ohori, the seventh seed, in her opening match.
India’s B Sumeeth Reddy and N Sikki Reddy also won their opening round match in the mixed doubles event.
The world No. 32 mixed doubles team of B Sumeeth Reddy-N Sikki Reddy took just over an hour to beat the American duo of Presley Smith and Jennie Gai, 145th in the world badminton rankings, by a 23-21, 17-21, 21-17 scoreline.
The Reddys will be up against the People’s Republic of China’s Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping, the current world No. 2 mixed doubles team and top seeds at the BWF Super 750 tournament, in the Round of 16.
Huang Dong Ping won the mixed doubles gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics with Wang Yilyu as partner.
Among the other Indian badminton players in action on the opening day, Priyanshu Rajawat exited the men’s singles event early after losing 24-22, 13-21, 18-21 to Indonesia’s Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo.
World No. 34 Rajawat took the lead against his 32nd-ranked opponent but faltered in the next two games. The Indian shuttler also squandered a four-point lead in the deciding game.
In women’s singles, Aakarshi Kashyap, ranked 46th, was completely outplayed by Japan’s world No. 14 Tomoka Miyazaki, who won the contest 21-10, 21-18.
Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, India’s premier men’s doubles pair, will be in action at the China Masters on Wednesday. The duo will be returning to the court for the first time since Paris 2024.
PV Sindhu, Malvika Bansod, Lakshya Sen and Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand will also start their campaigns in Shenzhen from Wednesday.