Indian shuttlers knocked out at Vietnam Open

The two Indian players involved in qualifying failed in their bid to make it through to the main draw of the Vietnam Open on the opening day's play.

Young shuttlers Rahul Yadav Chittabonia and Ashmita Chaliha were both knocked out.

Chittabonia fails to capitalise

Playing at the Nguyen Du Cultural Sports Club in Ho Chi Minh City, the 21-year-old Chittaboina showed great promise early on as he beat Chinese Taipei’s Su Li Yang 21-16, 21-14 in the first qualification round.

After the first win, Chittabonia took on Japanese shuttler Shota Omoto for a place in the main draw.

The 254th ranked shuttler got the better of the Indian in an intensely contested first game, winning 26-24. Following that first game win, the Japanese player was high on confidence and made light work of his opponent in the second, winning 21-15 to progress.

Chaliha loses out

India’s 19-year-old shuttler Ashmit Chaliha also failed to make a significant impact at the Vietnam Open qualifiers, losing 21-13, 21-16 in her very first game. Playing against China’s Wei Ya Xin, the Guwahati based athlete never really found her feet and always found herself chasing, ultimately losing the match in just 28 minutes.

While these two failed to make the cut to the main draws, India will still have some participation in the Vietnam Open with Sameer Verma, Ajay Jayaram and Shubhakar Dey participating in the tournament.

Out of the three, only Verma has managed to win a tournament this calendar year, claiming gold at the Hyderabad Open last month.

The tournament will also mark the return for Olympic gold medallist Carolina Marin who has been out of action for eight months, after sustaining a ligament injury in the final of the 2019 Indonesia Masters.