Hong Kong Open 2024 badminton: Priyanshu Rajawat, Aakarshi Kashyap ousted in first round; India’s singles campaign ends
Kiran George and Tanya Hemanth too lost their opening round matches. The pair of Sumeeth Reddy and Sikki Reddy advanced in mixed doubles.
Badminton
India’s singles campaign came to an end at the Hong Kong Open 2024 badminton in Kowloon, Hong Kong China on Wednesday.
Priyanshu Rajawat and Kiran George, competing in the men’s singles event, lost their opening round matches. In the women’s singles Aakarshi Kashyap and Tanya Hemanth too failed to advance.
Priyanshu Rajawat, part of the historic Thomas Cup-winning team, lost to Japan’s Takuma Obayashi 21-9, 16-21, 21-9. Kiran George, meanwhile, was defeated by Chinese Taipei’s Su Li Yang 21-16, 21-16.
In the women’s singles, world No. 39 Aakarshi Kashyap, the top-ranked Indian woman to compete in Hong Kong China, lost to world No. 9 Aya Ohori of Japan in straight games 21-15, 21-9.
Tanya Hemanth, 73rd in the badminton rankings, also lost her opening round match in women’s singles. She lost to world No. 46 Komang Ayu Cahya Dewi of Indonesia 21-16, 23-21.
In the mixed doubles event, Commonwealth Games medallists N Sikki Reddy and B Sumeeth Reddy defeated fellow Indians Kona Tarun-Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli in the opening round 21-9, 21-10 to reach the round of 16.
Sikki Reddy and Sumeeth Reddy will face the eighth-seeded Malaysian duo Shevon Jemie Lai and Goh Soon Huat in the pre-quarterfinals.
Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh, the other Indian badminton players in the mixed doubles, were ousted by Lu Ming Che and Hung En-Tzu of Chinese Taipei. The match finished 21-16, 22-20.
In women’s doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will be in action on Thursday. They will face Paris 2024 Olympics silver medallists Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning of the People’s Republic of China.