Indian badminton players had a strong start at the BWF300 Swiss Open 2024 with victories for PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth, and Lakshya Sen.
Dominant Sindhu: In the women’s singles, former champion PV Sindhu continued her winning ways, defeating Pornpicha Choeikeewong (Thailand) in straight games to advance to the second round. She will now face Tomoka Miyazaki (Japan).
Srikanth’s Experience Pays Off: Former world no. 1 Kidambi Srikanth displayed his experience in the men’s singles, outwitting Wang Tzu Wei (Chinese Taipei) in a tight match. This victory marked his sixth win against his opponent. Srikanth’s next challenge will be against the top seed, Lee Zii Jia (Malaysia).
Sen’s Winning Streak Continues: Rising star Lakshya Sen, who reached the semifinals at both the French Open and All England Championships recently, continued his impressive run. He edged out Leong Jun Hao (Malaysia) in a three-game battle and will now take on Chia Hao Lee (Chinese Taipei).
Success in Women’s Doubles: The Indian dominance extended to the women’s doubles category as well. The sixth-seeded pair of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa emerged victorious in a thrilling opening match against an Indonesian team. They will play against Japan’s Rui Hirokami and Yuna Kato next. Another Indian duo, Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra, also secured a win against a team from Chinese Taipei.
Mixed Results in Other Women’s Doubles: While some pairs triumphed, others fell short in the first round. Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand had secured a win on Tuesday.Sathish Kumar KARUNAKARAN and Aadya VARIYATH Defeated Roy King YAP and Valeree SIOW. However, Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam, Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda, and Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker couldn’t progress further in the tournament.
Other results:
In men’s singles Priyanshu Rajawat defeated Fourth seed LEE Cheuk Yiu from Hong Kong in straight sets and Kiran George defeated Takuma OBAYASHI from Japan to progress to the next round
The overall performance of Indian shuttlers at the Swiss Open has been positive thus far. With some exciting matchups on the horizon, the competition promises to be even more enthralling
Written by Ishant Garg