PV Sindhu and Aakarshi Kashyap of India advanced to the second round of the women’s singles, but Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen were eliminated in the men’s event at the Denmark Open Super 750 badminton competition in Odense. While Sindhu labored past Scotland’s world no.28 Kirsty Gilmour 21-14 18-21 21-10 in a 56-minute opening round match, Aakarshi, ranked 38th, fought to defeat Germany’s world no. 26 Li Yvonne 10-21 22-20 21-12 in another encounter.
The former World Champion, who reached the semi-finals of the Arctic Open last week, got off to a good start and sailed through the first game. Gilmour, on the other hand, reversed the tables in the second game, forcing a decider despite a late rally by the Indian. Sindhu dominated the third game and earned her second victory over Gilmour in three matches. The battle lasted 56 minutes.
Sindhu will face Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia, who is seeded seventh, in the round of 16 of the BWF Super 750 tournament. Despite Sindhu’s overall 8-2 head-to-head record, the Indonesian has defeated her twice in the past three meetings this year. Tunjung had beaten Sindhu in the Spain Masters final earlier this year. Aakarshi will also have her work cut out for her when she faces left-handed Thai Supanida Katethong next. The Thai world no.19 defeated the Indian in their sole meeting this year at the Singapore Open.
It was a bad day for 2021 World Championships silver medalist Kidambi Srikanth, who lost 21-19 10-21 16-21 to China’s world number 22 Weng Hong Yang in the men’s singles opening round. It was the former world No.1’s seventh opening-round loss in 15 BWF World Tour tournaments this year. Lakshya Sen, a bronze medalist at the 2021 World Championships, also fell at the first hurdle, losing 16-21 18-21 to Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the recently crowned Asian Games gold medalists, withdrew from the tournament, while their Malaysian opponents Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi went to the second round. Due to a back ailment, HS Prannoy, who earned an unprecedented bronze medal in the Asian Games, had also withdrawn. Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand in the women’s doubles and MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila in the men’s doubles both pulled out before the competition began. The results at the Denmark Open will count towards players’ qualifying rankings for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
