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The prestigious All England Open Badminton Championships 2024 kicked off at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham on March 12. The Indian shuttlers had a brilliant week at the French Open and were looking to improve their performance in Birmingham.
While two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu advanced to the second round, no other Indian could notch up a win. Asian Games medalist HS Prannoy, former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth, Aakarshi Kashyap, and the pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand all crashed out in their first-round match.
A closer look at the results of the Indian shuttlers at the All England Open 2024:
Indian badminton star PV Sindhu made a phenomenal comeback at the French Open 2024 after the knee injury she suffered last year. Continuing her form from last week, Sindhu took on Yvonne Li from Germany in her first-round encounter and completely outplayed the latter in the first set, winning it 21-10 before the German retired hurt.
Sindhu will now take on the winner of South Korea’s An Se Young and Chinese Taipei’s Wen Chi Hsu.
India’s other women’s singles representative, Aakarshi Kashyap, faced Pai Yu Po from Chinese Taipei in her first-round encounter. Despite putting up a valiant effort, Kashyap couldn't secure a win, ultimately losing with a scoreline of 16-21, 11-21.
In the men’s singles categories, former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth faced a daunting task in his opening match against World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen. Srikanth, who, like most of the other Indians, played some impressive badminton at the French Open, couldn't find his rhythm against the Danish. Axelsen's relentless attacks proved too much for Srikanth to handle, as he succumbed to defeat with a score of 9-21, 9-21.
Meanwhile, HS Prannoy, too, could not secure a win. Prannoy has been struggling to find his form, and he went down in the first round for the fourth time in five tournaments this year. The World No. 7 faced Su Li Yang from Chinese Taipei. Despite a strong start, Prannoy couldn't maintain his momentum, eventually losing the match with a score of 21-14, 13-21, 13-21.
India’s hopefuls in the women’s doubles category, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, who have had a spectacular track record at the All England Open, reaching the semifinals in their previous two encounters, were hoping to make it to the podium this time around. But the Indian duo, despite putting up a tough fight, could not overcome the Indonesian pair of Apriyani Rahayu and S. Ramadhanti. Treesa and Gayatri lost the match with a score of 18-21, 12-21.
Despite a disappointing day for the Indian shuttlers, the country’s hopes are still pinned on the World No. 1 pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, Priyanshu Rajawat, Lakshya Sen, the women’s doubles pairs of Ashwini Ponnappa-Tanisha Crasto and Rutaparna Panda-Swetaparna Panda, who have their first round matches on March 13. Sindhu will play her second-round match on March 14.
