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After a fabulous year of badminton action in 2023, the sport returned in 2024 with the Malaysia Open Super 1000 at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur. Day 1 of the Super 1000 affair witnessed a mixed bag of results for the Indian contingent.
Aakarshi Kashyap, MR Arjun, Dhruv Kapila, and the Panda sisters, Rutaparna and Swetaparna Panda, all suffered losses. However, one of the standout performances from Indian shuttlers at the Malaysia Open came from Kidambi Srikanth. The former world no. 1 displayed incredible resilience by staging a comeback against the sixth seed, Jonatan Christie.
The in-form pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto also secured a win to make it to the pre-quarterfinals.
A closer look at the Malaysia Open Super 1000 Day 1 results
In a fiercely contested opening-round match lasting an hour and five minutes, Kidambi Srikanth took on Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie. He had faced Christie 11 times before this. Winning six of the last 11 matches, Srikanth had the upper hand in the head-to-head coming into the match.
However, the Indian shuttler was immediately at a disadvantage after Christie took an early 7-4 lead. After leveling the scores at 8-8, the Indonesian found his rhythm and accelerated to 19-9 before wrapping up the set at 21-12.
The second set saw Christie take yet another early lead, surging forward to lead 10-5. But Parupalli Kashyap provided some valuable advice to Srikanth in the mid-game interval, as the latter then managed to level scores at 12-12. From this point on, the two players alternately took points until Srikanth took three straight points from 18–18 to seal the set, taking it to the decider.
The third and final set saw Christie build a comfortable lead from 5-0 to 14-9, but the 30-year-old Indian shuttler kept his composure. He took seven straight points and went on to lead 16-14. He ultimately secured the game 21-16. The final scoreboard of the match read 12-21, 21-18, 21-16 in Srikanth’s favor.
Srikanth will now take on Hong Kong's NG Ka Long Angus in the Round of 16 of the Malaysia Open Super 1000.
In the women's doubles, Abu Dhabi Masters winners Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto comfortably beat USA's Francesca Corbett and Allison Lee. They won by a score of 21-13, 21-16 and advanced to the Round of 16.
In the women’s singles Round of 32 at the Malaysia Open Super 1000, Aakarshi Kashyap lost to China’s Zhang Yi Man 15-21, 15-21. Meanwhile, MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila lost to F. Lee and Fang-Jen Lee 16-21, 19-21.
In the men’s doubles event. Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda also suffered a 12-21, 11-21 defeat to Japan’s M Matsumoto and W Nagahara.
As the tournament progresses, all eyes are now on Day 2. World No. 2 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, HS Prannoy, and Lakshya Sen are set to take the court in their opening matches. It promises more thrilling badminton action at the Malaysian Open Super 1000.
