Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
India enjoyed a productive outing in the women’s singles at the Korea Masters Super 300 on Wednesday, with Taipei Open winner Tanvi Sharma among the players advancing to the second round. The men’s singles campaign, however, took a major hit as former world championship silver medallist Kidambi Srikanth was among several Indians eliminated on the opening day.
Tanvi, seeded third, continued her fine run after winning her first BWF World Tour title in Taipei recently. She made a confident start in Korea, defeating China’s Yuan An Qi 21-16, 21-15 without being seriously troubled.
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There was also success for several other Indian shuttlers in the women’s singles draw. Rakshitha Ramraj overcame a first-game setback to get past Korea’s Yoo A Yeon 22-24, 21-12, 21-13, while Mansi Singh also produced a comeback victory, beating Kim Joo Eun 14-21, 21-19, 21-9.
Fifth seed Isharani Baruah survived a three-game battle against Lee So Yul, eventually defeating the Korean 21-18, 15-21, 21-7. Eighth seed Anmol Kharb similarly had to rally after losing the opening game before seeing off Hong Kong’s Lo Sin Yan Happy 16-21, 21-17, 21-12.
Ashmita Chaliha secured her passage to the last 16 with a 22-20, 21-18 win over Japan’s Riko Hiramoto, while Shriyanshi Valishetty comfortably defeated Chinese Taipei’s Pai Yu Po 21-15, 21-14.
India’s women’s singles campaign did suffer two setbacks. Tanya Hemanth was beaten 16-21, 20-22 by Japanese top seed Hina Akechi, while Aakarshi Kashyap narrowly lost the second game before being overwhelmed in the decider by Korea’s Kim Min Ji, going down 22-20, 21-23, 3-21.
SRIKKANTH DISAPPOINTS
The men’s singles draw proved far less rewarding for India. Third seed Srikanth was pushed into a deciding game by Israel’s Daniil Dubovenko before eventually losing 20-22, 21-14, 12-21.
Srikanth’s exit was followed by defeats for four more Indian players. Kiran George was comfortably beaten 15-21, 9-21 by Korea’s Park Sang Yong, while Mithun Manjunath suffered an 11-21, 9-21 loss to China’s Zhu Xuan Chen.
Tharun Mannepalli came close to forcing his way through after levelling the contest against Korea’s Yoo Tae Bin, but eventually fell 13-21, 21-12, 19-21. Rounak Chouhan also bowed out after a tight contest, losing 21-23, 19-21 to fourth-seeded Korean Jeon Hyeok Jin.
Saneeth Dayanand’s campaign ended prematurely when he retired during his match against Japanese top seed and world No. 21 Yudai Okimoto. Dayanand was trailing 11-21, 4-13 at the time of his retirement.
The doubles events produced mixed fortunes as well. Sixth seeds Ishaan Bhatnagar and Shruti Mishra progressed after winning an all-Indian mixed doubles encounter against Sathwik Reddy Kanapuram and Radhika Sharma. The seeded pair recovered from dropping the first game to win 20-22, 21-10, 21-15.
Sonali Singh and Ritika Thaker also secured a comeback victory in women’s doubles. After losing the opening game 13-21, the Indian duo turned the match around to beat Korea’s Bang Ji Sun and Hyun Ji Jang 21-15, 21-12.
The remaining Indian doubles combinations, however, could not make it through. Seventh-seeded mixed doubles pairing Dhruv Rawat and Maneesha K went down 21-18, 14-21, 17-21 to Malaysia’s Loo Bing Kun and Nurul Maisarah Mohamad Zamani.
In men’s doubles, Bhargav Ram Arigela and Viswa Tej Gobburu were beaten 17-21, 15-21 by the Malaysian combination of Aaron Chia and Aaron Tai.
With several women’s singles players progressing, India will look to build on that momentum in the second round, while the men’s singles contingent faces an early exit from the tournament.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
