German Open 2018: Indian challenge comes to an end with twin defeats

The Indian challenge came to a premature end with twin defeats at the Yonex German Open 2018 held at the Innogy Sporthalle in Mulheim-An-Der-Rhur, Germany on Thursday. In men’s singles, Subhankar Dey was outclassed 7-21, 6-21 by the fourth seeded Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in a second round clash that lasted just 28 minutes.

The National Championships bronze medallist, who is currently ranked 67th, had an upset victory in the first round when the World No. 16 Wong Wing Ki Vincent retired, trailing 12-21, 11-19.

The former Syed Modi International mixed doubles champions Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy too had to end up on the losing side in their second round encounter with the Thai combine of Tinn Isriyanet and Pacharapun Chochuwong. Chopra and Reddy fought hard before bowing out 18-21, 19-21 in 37 minutes.

The top Indian pair had come to this tournament after a solid start to the 2018 season that saw them reaching the semi-finals at the India Open in early February. In the first round at the German Open this week, they showed exceptional fighting skills to prevail over the 142nd ranked pair of Chang Ko-Chi and Cheng Chi Ya 24-22, 17-21, 21-19.

However, they could not continue that run in the second round, where the Thai proved too strong in the business end of each game.

Reddy and Chopra will next be seen in action at the prestigious All England Open, which begins on March 14.

The top Indian stars had opted out of this BWF World Tour Super 300 tournament in order to gear up for the mega Birmingham event next week. The German Open was in the spotlight for it is the first tournament where BWF’s new service rule, that states that the shuttle needs to be not more than 1.15m from the surface at the point of hitting, has been implemented.

It has led to both the players and the umpires struggling to adapt to the new system, as revealed by Sikki Reddy.