Thailand Open Highlights: Lakshya Sen, Saina Nehwal, Kiran George clinch wins, PV Sindhu bows out

Thailand Open Highlights: Lakshya Sen, Saina Nehwal and Top seeded Men’s Doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty clinched their respective first round contests contests at the Thailand Open on Wednesday, 31st May 2023. Meanwhile PV Sindhu suffered a shock defeat against Canada’s Michelle Li. Kiran George on the otherhand stunned World No.9 Shi Yu Qi with a straight set win in the first round contest. Follow Thailand Open 2023 LIVE updates on InsideSport.IN

Thailand Open 2023, Day 2: Schedule

Men’s Singles

• Priyanshu Rajawat LOST TO Ng Tze Yong – 19-21, 10-21
• Kidambi Srikanth LOST TO Weng Hong Yong – 8-21, 21-16, 14-21
• Kiran George BEAT Shi Yu Qi – 21-18, 22-20
• Sai Praneeth LOST TO Christo Popov – 14-21, 16-21
• Sameer Verma LOST TO Magnus Johannesen – 15-21, 15-21
• Lakshya Sen BEAT Wang Tzu Wei – 21-23, 21-15, 21-15
• Mithun Manjunath LOST TO Kunlavut Vitudsarn – 21-17, 8-21, 15-21

Women’s singles

• Ashmitha Chaliha BEAT Malvika Bansod – 21-17, 21-14
• Saina Nehwal BEAT Wen Yu Zhang – 21-13, 21-7
• PV Sindhu LOST TO Michelle Li – 8-21, 21-18, 18-21

Men’s Doubles

• Rankireddy/Shetty BEAT Kjaer/Sogaard – 21-13, 18-21, 21-17

Women’s Doubles

• Ashwini Bhat/Shikha Gautam LOST TO Baek Ha Na/Lee So Hee – 11-21, 6-21

India’s Kiran George scripted a stunning straight-game win over world number 9 Shi Yuqi of China. 2022 Odisha Open winner Kiran, a product of the Prakash Padukone academy, notched up a 21-18 22-20 win over third seed Shi Yu Qi, who is a 2018 world championships silver medallist. Kiran will take on China’s Weng Hong Yang next.

Weng Hong Yang meanwhile clinched a victory against Kidambi Srikanth. Srikanth, the 2021 world championships silver medallist, lost 8-21 21-16 14-21 against China’s Weng Hong Yang, who had reached the final of Malaysia Masters last week.

Lakshya also dug deep to eke out a hard-fought 21-23 21-15 21-15 win over Chinese Taipei’s Wang Tzu Wei. He is likely to square off against All England champion Li Shi Feng of China.

Commonwealth Games champion and top seeds Satwik and Chirag too had to work hard to outwit the Danish combination of Rasmus Kjaer and Frederik Sogaard 21-13 18-21 21-17 in a thrilling match.

A former world champion, Sindhu, however, faltered in the opening round, going down fighting 8-21 21-18 18-21 to Canada’s Michelle Li in 62-minute match.

In other matches, Ashmita, who came through the qualifiers, beat compatriot Malvika Bansod 17-21 14-21, while London Olympics bronze medallist Saina defeated Canada’s Wen Yu Zhang 21-13 21-7. Ashmita will next face Rio Olympic gold medallist Carolina Marin, seeded fourth, while Saina is likely to meet He Bing Jiao of China.

Praneeth, who competed at the Tokyo Olympics, also found France’s Christo Popov too hot to handle, going down 14-21 16-21 in another match. Orleans Masters winner Priyanshu Rajawat too couldn’t cross the opening hurdle, going down 19-21 10-21 to Malaysia’s Ng Tze Yong.

Former world number 11 Sameer Verma, who had won the Slovenia Open recently, went down 15-21 15-21 to Denmark’s Magnus Johannesen. Ashwini Bhat K and Shikha Gautam lost to Korea’s third seed Baek Ha Na and Lee So Hee 11-21 6-21 in women’s doubles.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, a men’s doubles team from India, will also play after missing the Malaysia Masters. In the main draw, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who are ranked fifth in the world, will face France’s Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar.

Thailand Open Highlights: Lakshya Sen, Saina Nehwal, Kiran George clinch wins, PV Sindhu bows out

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