Aakarshi Kashyap eyes improved show at Mexican International Challenge badminton tournament

Aakarshi Kashyap might have missed out on the Indian team selection for the Uber Cup but she is determined to make amends with a brilliant performance in the upcoming tournament.

Aakarshi Kashyap is participating in the Mexican International Challenge badminton tournament which will begin on Thursday at Aguascalientes in Mexico.

The five-day tournament is being organized by Badminton Pan Am under the auspices of the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

World No. 103 Aakarshi has been given the fifth seeding in the women’s singles. The 32-player main draw women’s singles section is dominated by the European and American players.

Aakarshi, who turned 20 on August 24, will play a qualifier in the first round on Thursday.

World No. 63 Clara Azurmendi of Spain is the top seed. Another Spaniard, Beatriz Corrales, is the second seed.

Since Aakarshi is in the lower half of the draw, she is likely to face world No. 84 Corrales in the quarter-finals.

The Durg-based shuttler excelled in the Denmark Masters International Challenge Badminton tournament which was held last month in Esbjerg by reaching the semi-finals despite being unseeded.

India No. 1 Aakarshi, who trains at the Suchitra Badminton Academy in Hyderabad, caused a couple of major upsets including toppling the second seed Line Højmark Kjaersfeldt in straight games.

I want to better my Denmark performance in Mexico: Aakarshi

The Denmark tournament has given Aakarshi a lot of confidence. She wants to carry that momentum into the Mexico tournament.

“I did quite well in Denmark by making it to the semis. It has given me a lot of confidence. I want to improve my performance in Mexico. I would not like to think too far. I will take it match by match,” said Aakarshi.

The qualifying rounds will get underway on Thursday. India’s Harshit Aggarwal will take on Canada’s Ramnish Kumar in the men’s singles first round qualifying match.

In the women’s singles, second seed Shruthika Senthil will lock horns with Paula Lozoya of Mexico.

Junior world No. 2 Samiya Imad Farooqui of Telangana and SS Lakshmi Priyanka Subramanian have pulled out of the tourney.

In the men’s singles, promising Tamil Nadu teenager S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian and Anirudh Janardhanan have also withdrawn.