On Wednesday, India's top talents—double Olympic medalist PV Sindhu, the high-flying Lakshya Sen, and veteran Kidambi Srikanth—all secured victories to progress to the second round of the Swiss Open Super 300. Sindhu, who previously hoisted the trophy in 2022, cruised past Thailand's Pornpicha Choeikeewong in straight sets (21-12, 21-13) and will now face Tomoka Miyazaki from Japan.
Double Olympic medalist PV Sindhu, in-form Lakshya Sen, and India’s senior shuttler Kidambi Srikanth all produced strong performances to advance to the second round of the Swiss Open Super 300 badminton tournament here on Wednesday. Sindhu, who won the title in 2022, outplayed Thailand’s Pornpicha Choeikeewong in straight sets 21-12, 21-13. Sindhu will next face Japan’s Tomoka Miyazaki in the second round.
Coming off a string of semifinal appearances at the All-England and French Open, Lakshya Sen battled through a 62-minute match to defeat Malaysia's Leong Jun Hao 21-19, 15-21, 21-11. Sen, 22, is now eyeing a quarterfinal spot with a match against Chia Hao Lee of Chinese Taipei. Former world number one Kidambi Srikanth, who won this tournament back in 2015, dismantled world no. 24 Wang Tzu Wei 21-17, 21-18. This win marks Srikanth's sixth success in seven meetings with Wang. The 2011 World Championship silver medalist will now take on Malaysia's top seed, Lee Zii Jia.
In the women's doubles category, the sixth-seeded duo of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto fought hard to overcome Indonesia's Meilysa Trias Puspitasari and Rachel Allessya Rose in a thriller, finishing 21-18, 12-21, 21-19. The world no. 20 Indian pair now prepares for a clash with Japan's Yuna Kato and Rui Hirokami. Additionally, the Indian pair of Shruti Mishra and Priya Konjengbam secured a comfortable straight-games victory (21-13, 21-19) over Chinese Taipei's Liang Ting Yu and Huang Yu-Hsun.
Earlier on Tuesday, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand bounced back from their early exit at the All-England Open. The Indian pair dominated the American duo of Annie Xu and Kerry Xu, sailing into the second round of the Swiss Open Super 300 with a quick 21-15, 21-12 win that lasted only 39 minutes.
Unfortunately, the result wasn't as positive for other Indian women's doubles pairs. Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam fell 13-21, 21-16, 14-21 to the fourth-seeded Hong Kong duo, Yeung Nga Ting and Yeung Pui Lam. Meanwhile, Rutaparna and Swetaparna Panda suffered a heavy defeat (4-21, 6-21) at the hands of the top-seeded Indonesians, Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti and Apriyani Rahayu. Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker also exited the tournament after losing 17-21, 7-21 to Indonesia's Ribka Sugiarto and Tria Mayasari.