New Delhi: India’s top shuttler Lakshya Sen continued his disappointing run, crashing out in the first round of the Thailand Open Super 500 tournament on Wednesday. The 2021 World Championship bronze medallist fell to Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen in a grueling three-game contest, losing 18-21, 21-9, 17-21 in a match that lasted one hour and 20 minutes. After levelling the match in the second game with aggressive play, Sen failed to maintain momentum in the decider, allowing Nguyen to pull ahead late and seal the win.
Adding to India’s woes in the men’s singles, world No. 33 Priyanshu Rajawat also suffered a first-round exit, going down 13-21, 21-17, 16-21 against Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan.
However, it was a brighter day on the women’s front as Malvika Bansod, Aakarshi Kashyap, and Unnati Hooda advanced to the second round with hard-fought wins. World No. 23 Malvika, a runner-up at the 2024 Hylo Open, defeated Turkey’s Neslihan Arin 21-12, 13-21, 21-17 to set up a second-round clash with former world champion and seventh seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand.
Aakarshi Kashyap survived a tense encounter against Japan’s Kaoru Sugiyama, clinching a nail-biting 21-16, 20-22, 22-20 victory. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Unnati Hooda battled past Thailand’s Thamonwan Nithiittikrai 21-14, 18-21, 23-21. Unnati, a former winner of the Odisha Masters and Abu Dhabi Masters, will now face top-seeded Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand in the next round.
India’s top-ranked women’s doubles pair, Tressa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, currently world No. 10, made a winning return from injury with a convincing 21-15, 21-13 win over Malaysia’s Ong Xin Yee and C Ting. The third-seeded duo will face Japan’s Rui Hirokami and Sayaka Hobara in the second round.
However, it was the end of the road for several other Indian players. Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj lost 18-21, 7-21 to Singapore’s eighth seed Yeo Jia Min, while former national champion Anupama Upadhyaya was outclassed 11-21, 9-21 by Ratchanok Intanon. Indian doubles pairs K. Selvam/S. Singhi (women’s) and P. Krishnamurthy Roy/S. Pratheek K (men’s) also exited in the first round.
National Games gold medallist Tharun Mannepalli was set to take on Malaysia’s Justin Hoh later in the day, hoping to keep India’s campaign alive on the men’s side.
