Indian shuttlers Lakshya Sen, Satwik/Chirag & Tressa/Gayatri have stormed into the round of 16 of the French Open 2024.
Star Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the second round of the French Open Super 750 badminton tournament with a hard-fought win against Malaysia’s Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi in Paris on Tuesday.
Satwik and Chirag, ranked world no. 1, had claimed the title in 2022. The Asian Games champions made a fine start to the tournament by outwitting the world no. 12 Malaysian combination 21-13 24-22 in 47 minutes for their fifth win in the last eight meetings.
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Satwik and Chirag, who finished second best in their last three tournaments, will face another Malaysian pair of Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee in the next round.
In the women’s doubles, Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand advanced to the second round following a hard-fought victory over fellow Indians Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto. The match ended with an entertaining scoreline of 16-21, 21-19, 21-17.
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The match not only highlighted the depth of Indian badminton but also the intense competition for Olympic qualification. On one hand, Tanisha/Ashwini is ranked 11th on the other hand, Treesa/Gayatri is placed in the 14th spot in the Olympic Games qualification ranking.
On the other hand, World Championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen came from behind to eke out a 15-21 21-15 21-3 win over Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama in his opening round fixture. The unseeded Indian will take on third seed Li Shen Feng in the pre-quarterfinal.
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Amidst all the jubilation of success, Priyanshu Rajawat faced a disastrous defeat against World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen. Rajawat succumbed to a 21-8, 21-15 defeat, highlighting the Danish player’s dominance on the court.
The action continues with PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth, and HS Prannoy set to commence their singles campaigns. Sindhu, a formidable force in women’s badminton, will take on Canada’s Michelle Li, while Srikanth and Prannoy will face formidable opponents in Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen and China’s Lu Guang Zhu, respectively.
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