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The second day of the India Open Super 750 was a somewhat dismal outing for the country's players at the IG Stadium in Delhi on January 17. There were seven Indian matches lined up on the court, but only Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty made it to the next round.
First in action today was the women's doubles duo of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto. Ponnappa and Crasto have been on an exhilarating run as of late but were handed a disappointing defeat on Wednesday. The Indians went down against Thai world number 10s Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajonggai 21-5, 18-21, 21-11.
Following them on the court was Srikanth Kidambi. Kidambi, who had a shaky 2023, was unable to find his momentum today as well. In a game riddled with unforced errors and no attack, the Indian bowed out against Hong Kong's Lee Cheuk Yiu 24-22, 21-13.
Next up at the India Open were the doubles pairs of Krishna Prasad Garaga/Sai Pratheek and Ashwini Bhat/Shikha Gautam. Both pairs have been promoted to the main draw from the reserve and were unable to put up memorable performances. Garaga and Pratheek lost their match 14-21, 21-11, while Bhat and Gautam conceded their opening round 12-21, 3-21.
India's other representation in the singles events today consisted of Sathish Kumar Karunakaran and Aakarshi Kashyap. Both of them were also promoted from the reserve.
Karunakaran was up against world number 35 Takuma Obayashi, and he fought valiantly. But he eventually lost 22-20, 21-16 in a match that was just shy of an hour. Kashyap on the other hand, was up against Olympic champion and second seed Chen Yu Fei and lost her match 21-10, 21-9.
The only good news from the India Open today for the country's badminton enthusiasts was Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty's victory. While the world no. 2s had their work cut out for them, they persevered to clinch a 21-15, 19-21, 21-16 win over their Taiwanese opponents.
India Open 2024: Results at the end of Day 2
Men's Singles
Lee Cheuk Yiu (Hong Kong) beat Srikanth Kidambi (India) 24-22, 21-13
Takuma Obayashi (Japan) beat Sathish Kumar Karunakaran (India) 22-20, 21-16
Men's Doubles
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty (India) beat Fang-Chih Lee/Fang-Jen Lee (Chinese Taipei) 21-15, 19-21, 21-16
Kenya Mitsuhashi/Hiroki Okamura (Japan) beat Krishna Prasad Garaga/Sai Pratheek (India) 21-14, 21-11
Women's Singles
Chen Yu Fei (China) beat Aakarshi Kashyap (India) 21-10, 21-9
Women's Doubles
Jongkolphan Kititharakul/Rawinda Prajonggai (Thailand) beat Ashwini Ponnappa/Tanisha Crasto (India) 21-5, 18-21, 21-11.
Kim So Yeong/Kong HeeYong (Korea) beat Ashwini Bhat/Shikha Gautam (India) 21-12, 21-3
