Thailand Open 2023 Day 1: Mixed Day for Indian shuttlers
It was a
mixed day for the Indian shuttlers on the opening day of Super 500 Thailand
Open played in Bangkok, Thailand on 30 May 2023.
The men’s
singles section saw Kidambi Srikanth lost to Weng Hong of China in three games.
It was a disappointing performance by the Indian as he looked out of color during
the first game losing by 8-21. Srikanth committed lot of unforced in the 2nd
game before making a strong comeback to level the scores at 9-9. At the
mid-game break, Srikanth led 11-9. The Indian tried to hit smashes but did not
go beyond net and won second set at 21-16.
The Chinese
dominated the deciding game with smashes that put pressure on the Indian. At
the mid-game break, Weng had a commanding lead. After the break, Weng continued
to dominate and won the third game by 21-14 to knock out Srikanth in the first
round.
Kiran George
stunned All England Champion runners up Shi Y Q of China in two straight games. The Indian showed great fighting spirit in both games. Whenever it looked the Indian looked out of the game, he stormed back to win the first game by 21-18.
The second game saw Shi Y Q dominating the play, but Kiran stormed back into the match with his brilliant shots. Indian was down 17-20 before taking 3 points in succession to level scores at 20-20 and then won the game by 22-20 to move into the second round. He will take on Weng Hong.
Lakshya Sen
progressed into the second with a three-game victory over Wang T-W of Chinese Taipei.
The first game saw Sen dominating and putting Wang under pressure with smashes taking
a big lead. After the break, the match ebbed and flowed as the Chinese Taipei
player showed great spirit. Both players took alternate points before Wang won first
game by 25-23.
It was a
dominating performance by Sen in the next two games and did not allow his
opponent to make a comeback into the match. Lakshya Sen made a great start to the second
game with lovely smashes as he took an 11-7 lead at the interval. After the
break, Sen dominated and won the second game by 21-15.
The third
game saw both players taking alternate points before Sen took a slender 11-10
at the interval. After the break, Sen dominated and won the decider 21-15. He
will face Li S F of China.
The other
results saw Sai Praneeth who qualified for the tournament lost to Popov in two
straight games by 14-21, 16-21 to be knocked out. Sameer Verma was knocked out
with 15-21, 15-21 loss to M Johannesen of Denmark.
Orleans
Masters winner Pranshu Rajawat lost to Ng T Young of Malaysia in straight games.
Pranshu showed great fight and spirit in the first game leading 11-7 at the
break. After the interval, Young made a strong comeback winning it by 21-19.
The second game was a one-sided affair as the Malaysian won it by 21-10 to move
into the pre-quarters.
Mithun Manjunath
lost to local favorites Vitisdarn in three games. The Indian won the first game
21-17 before Vitisdarn won the next two games by 21-8, 21-15 to move into
second round.
The women’s
singles section saw PV Sindhu suffer shocking loss to Mitchell Li of Canada in
three games. Li showed great shots putting the Indian under pressure and
winning it easily by 21-8. Sindhu made a strong comeback in the second game
with a close fought 21-18 win to force the match into the decider.
It was
another closely fought affair in the third game before Li won it by 21-18 to
knock Sindhu in the first round itself.
Saina
Nehwal made winning start to the tournament defeating qualifier Zhang of Canada
in two straight games. It was a dominating performance as Saina won it by
21-13, 21-7 to move into the second round. She will now face He Bingjao of
China.
In
all-Indian first round match, Ashmita Chaila defeated Malvika Bansod in two
straight games. Both made into main draw from qualifying round. Chaila won it
21-17, 21-14 to move into the second. She will now face Carolina Marin.
The top
seeded Satwiksairaj RankiReddy and Chirag Shetty defeated qualifier R Kjaer and
F Soggard of Denmark in three games. It was a dominating performance by the
Indian pair in the first game right from word go and won it easily by 21-13.
The Indian
pairing made another solid start in the second game before Danish showed
fighting spirit to take slender 11-10 lead at the break. After the interval, Danish
pair won the second game by 21-18 to force the match into decider.
It was
another closely fought start to the third game before Satwik and Chirag held
onto his nerves to win it by 21-17 to move into second round. They will face MS
Fikri and Maulana of Indonesia in second round.
Results of
Indians on first day of Thailand Open 2023
Men’s
Singles
Kidambi
Srikanth lost to Weng Hong- 8-21, 21-16, 14-21
Sai
Praneeth lost to Popov- 14-21, 16-21
Sameer
Verma lost to Johannsen- 15-21, 15-21
Pranshu
Rajawat lost to Ng T Y- 19-21, 10-21
Mithun
Manjunath lost to Vitisdarn- 21-17, 8-21, 15-21
Lakshya Sen
beat Wang T W- 23-25, 21-15, 21-15
Kiran
George beat Shi Y Q- 21-18, 22-20
Women’s
Singles
PV Sindu
lost to Mitchell Li- 8-21, 21-18, 18-21
Saina
Nehwal beat Zhang- 21-13, 21-7
Asmita
Chaila beat Malvika Bansod- 21-17, 21-14.
Men’s Doubles
Satwik/Chirag Shetty defeated Kajer/Soggard- 21-13,
18-21, 21-17.
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