Kashyap advances in Korea Open, Sindhu, Saina, Praneeth bow out

Former Olympic champion Parupalli Kashyap was the lone Indian to survive in the singles event of BWF’s first World Tour title in the opening round of Korea Open Super 500 tournament on Wednesday (September 25).

Kashyap registered a comfortable 21-16 21-16 over Lu Chia Hung of Chinese Taipei in a men’s singles match that lasted 42 minutes in Incheon, Korea.

World Champion PV Sindhu bowed out after losing to Beiwen Zhang in three games.

Sindhu was eyeing the title after crashing out of the China Open in the pre-quarterfinals last week, but couldn’t pave her way past America’s Zhang in the 21-7, 22-24, 15-21 match.

The Olympic silver medallist defeated Zhang on her way to the World Championships gold in Basel, Switzerland earlier this month.

Meanwhile, the $400,000 tournament saw B Sai Praneeth making an early exit after he retired midway in the first-round against Denmark’s Anders Antonsen. Praneeth lost the first game 9-21 and was struggling during the second by 7-11 when he decided to retire.

During the World Championships alongside Sindhu, Praneeth won the bronze medal ending India’s 36-year long drought for a medal in men’s singles at Worlds.

Also read: Sindhu and team eye season’s first BWF World Tour title in Korea Open

The eighth-seeded Saina Nehwal too faced an exit from the tournament after being retired hurt against Korean Kim Ga Eun in a match that lasted 46 minutes.

The 29-year-old has a 2-0 head-to-head record against Kim conceded the first round 21-19, 18-21, 1-8 match due to injury. This indicates the end of the Indian challenge in women’s singles. 

In men’s doubles category, Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy crashed out in the round of 32 losing to Kai Xiang and Cheng by 16-21, 21-19, 18-21.

The pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty who faced the fourth-seeded Japanese pair of Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda lost their chance to advance in the tournament by 21-19, 18-21, 21-18 in a match that lasted 63 minutes.