It was a mixed day for Indian shuttlers at the Thailand Open 2023 in Bangkok as PV Sindhu crashed out in the first round while Kiran George stunned China’s Shi Yu Qi, a former world championships silver medallist and the third seed to progress further in the BWF Super 500 tournament.
Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, suffered a defeat to Michelle Li of Canada with a score of 21-8, 18-21, 21-18. This loss marked Sindhu's first in 10 matches against Li and also her fourth first-round exit this season.
On the other hand, Saina Nehwal, the bronze medallist from the 2012 London Olympics, had a comfortable 21-13, 21-7 victory over Canadian qualifier Wen Yu Zhang. This match marked Nehwal's return to the tour since her first-round exit at the Orleans Masters in April. Nehwal is set to face He Bing Jiao of China in the pre-quarterfinals.
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Another Indian participant in the women's singles event, Ashmita Chaliha, who came through the qualifiers, defeated compatriot Malvika Bansod with a score of 21-17, 21-14. Chaliha's victory sets up a pre-quarterfinal match against Carolina Marin, the gold medallist from the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Some fabulous wins, some 💔!
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) May 31, 2023
Day 2️⃣ results 📝#ThailandOpen2023 #IndiaontheRise#Badminton pic.twitter.com/qY9idFRN28
Meanwhile, in the men's singles event, George pulled off a stunning upset by defeating Shi Yu Qi of China with a score of 21-18, 22-20, thus progressing to the next round. He was trailing 3-10 in the first game but staged an incredible comeback to win it. In the second game also, he held his nerve at 17-20 and went on to force a tie-break which he ultimately clinched 22-20.
Lakshya Sen, the Commonwealth Games champion, also secured a spot in the round of 16 after an hour-long hard-fought battle against Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei. Sen emerged victorious with a score of 21-23, 21-15, 21-15.
However, former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth bowed out of the tournament following a 21-8, 16-21, 21-14 defeat to Weng Hong Yang of China.
B Sai Praneeth will also head home after he lost to Christo Popov of France with a score of 21-14, 21-16, while Priyanshu Rajawat was defeated in straight games by Ng Tze Yong of Malaysia with a score of 21-19, 21-10.
Sameer Verma went down to Magnus Johannesen of Denmark with a score of 21-15, 21-15 while Mithun Manjunath was vanquished by Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand 21-17, 8-21, 15-21.
In doubles, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy lived up to the billing and got the better of Denmark’s Rasmus Kjaer and Frederik Sogaard 21-13, 18-21, 21-17 to seal a round of 16 berth. While, in women's doubles, Ashwini Bhat K and Shikha Gautam had to concede defeat to Korea Republic’s Baek Ha Na and Lee So Hee 21-11, 21-6 to crash out of the event.
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