Badminton: Sikki lone bright spot in Hong Kong Open; Indians shine in Vietnam

The duo of B Sumeeth Reddy and N Sikki Reddy entered the mixed doubles second round but the other Indian shuttlers, including Priyanshu Rajawat, made early exits from the Hong Kong Open here on Wednesday.

The Indian husband-wife duo saw off compatriots Tarun Kona and Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli 21-9 21-10 in 22 minutes in their opening match of the super 500 tournament.

The Indian pair will face eighth seeds Masgoh Soon Huat and Lai Shevon Jemie next.

Among other Indians, Rajawat was sent packing by Japan’s Takuma Obayashi 9-21 21-16 9-21, while Kiran George lost 16-21 16-21 to Su Li Yang of Chinese Taipei in a lop-sided men’s singles contest.

In women’s singles, Aakarshi Kashyap and Tanya Hemanth also lost their opening round matches.

While Aakarshi went down 15-21 9-21 to fifth seed Aya Ohori of Japan, Tanya’s gallant fight ended with a 16-21 21-26 loss to Indonesia’s Komang Ayu Cahya Dewi.

Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh also couldn’t cross the opening hurdle of mixed doubles competition.

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Indians shine in Vietnam Open in Ho Chi Minh City, Indian shuttlers put up an impressive show with Alap Mishra, Tharun Mannepalli and Bharat Raghav progressing to the men’s singles pre-quarterfinals.

Alap pipped top seeded Indian Sathish Kumar Karunakaran 21-16 20-22 21-13, Tharun saw off Chinese Taipei’s Ting Yen-Chen 15-21 21-17 21-18, and Bharat prevailed 21-19 20-22 21-16 over compatriot Meiraba Luwang Maisnam, seeded fifth.

In women’s singles, Isharani Baruah and Rakshitha Sree Santosh Ramraj advanced to round 2 but Aashi Rawat, Tasnim Mir, Shriyanshi Valishetty lost in the opening hurdle.

While Isharani, who was part of India’s Uber Cup team this year, outwitted fellow Indian second seed Anupama Upadhyaya 21-7 17-21 21-15, Rakshitha beat sixth seed Rachel Chan 21-13 22-20 in another opening match.

In mixed doubles, top seeds Sathish Kumar Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath, six seeds Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto, and Bokka Navaneeth and Ritika Thaker also qualified for the second round.

Second seeds Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra also made it to second round.

The men’s doubles pair of Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala also entered the pre-quarterfinals.