Syed Modi International 2025: Top seed Unnati Hooda, former champion Srikanth advance to second round
Top seed Unnati Hooda and former champion Kidambi Srikanth notched comfortable wins to lead a host of Indians into the second round of the Syed Modi International Super 300 tournament in Lucknow on Wednesday.
While Hooda overcame compatriot Aakarshi Kashyap 21-13, 21-18, Srikanth, who had reached the finals at Malaysia Masters early this year, produced a fluent performance to defeat Kavin Thangam 21-13, 21-10 at the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium.
Among other key results, seventh seed Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj opened her women’s singles challenge with a confident 21-12, 21-14 win over Shreya Lele.
Kiran George also advanced in the men’s singles section, beating Israel’s Daniil Dubovenko 21-17, 21-9, and will face Jason Gunawan of Hong Kong next.
Priyanshu Rajawat, playing his first match in five months after recovering from a knee injury, defeated Meiraba Luwang Maisnam 21-18, 21-14 to set up a second-round clash with another Indian, BM Rahul Bharadwaj.
Bharadwaj beat Tarun Reddy Katam 18-21, 21-16, 23-21 in another all-Indian clash.
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Among other Indians, Alap Mishra and Siddhanth Gupta progressed to the men’s singles second round, while Devika Sihag, Mansi Singh, Isharani Baruah, Tanya Hemanth, and Anupama also advanced.
In the mixed doubles category, in an all-Indian clash between World Juniors medallists, C Lalramsanga and Taarini Suri edged out Bhavya Chhabra and Vishakha Toppo 25-23, 21-14.
Young sisters duo Gayatri and Mansa Rawat added another win for the hosts, defeating Arathi Sunil and Varshini Viswanath 21-11, 21-18 in women’s doubles.
In men’s singles, top seed Jason Teh of Singapore got past India’s Rithvik Sanjeevi 21-19, 21-17, staying steady in the tight moments to seal his place in the round of 16.
Top seeds Terry Hee and Jin Yujia of Singapore overcame India’s Ayush Makhija and Simran Singhi 23-21, 21-10.
Published on Nov 26, 2025