Indian shuttlers start French Open campaign with wins; Kashyap, Nehwal and Srikanth bow out

The Indian badminton contingent started their campaign at the YONEX French Open. The tournament features some of the top shuttlers all across the globe. Several Indian were in action on Day 2 of the event in Paris.

The Indian badminton team led by PV Sindhu started well in Paris. The bronze medallist at the Tokyo Olympics went up against Denmark’s Julie Dawall Jakobsen in the first round. Sindhu was too good for the Danish shuttler as she won 21-15, 21-18 in straight games. Sindhu will now gear up to face another Danish shuttler in  Line Christophersen in the second round of the French Open.

Among the male shuttlers, Sourabh Verma started the event pretty well as he won the opening round after a lot of struggle. It was a close encounter against Brazil’s Ygor Coelho but the Indian shuttler came out on top with a 22-20, 21-19 scoreline. Youngster Lakshya Sen also started off his campaign with a win. The 20-year-old  Indian shuttler defeated  Vietnam born Irish badminton star Nhat Nguyen by a scoreline of 21-10, 21-16.

Srikanth Kidambi was unlucky that despite his best efforts he had to crash out of the French Open. The Indian shuttler had to face World No. 1 Kento Momota of Japan in the first round. Srikanth fought with all his might and forced the third game but simply could not hold his nerves against the Japanese. Both the shuttlers were exceptional but Momoto edge out Srikanth and won by 21-18, 20-22, 21-19 scoreline.

Similar fate for Parupalli Kashyap as he lost his opening encounter against local favourite Brice Leverdez. Kashyap did force the third game but ultimately it was not enough as he lost 21-17, 17-21, 21-11. HS Prannoy also crashed out alongside Srikanth and Kashyap. The 29-year-old Indian shuttler went up against Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei. Tien Chen was simply too good against Prannoy as he lost 11-21, 14-21.

The most heartbreaking result of the day was Saina Nehwal’s injury retirement. The Olympic medallist had to withdraw from yet another tournament due to her physical condition. Nehwal faced Japan’s Sayaka Takahashi and was trailing 21-11, 9-2  before the veteran Indian shuttler decided to forfeit.

In Men’s doubles, Dhruv Kapila and MR Arjun opened their campaign in Prais with a win over Joshua Magee and Paul Reynolds of Ireland. Star Indian duo of Satwiksairaj Rankiredd and Chirag Shetty also started off with a win in the French Open. The Indian duo defeated Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan of Chinese Taipei in a pretty tight game. The Indians came back from a game down to win the next two to progress to the next round. They won by a 18-21, 21-17, 21-13 scoreline.