Swiss Open 2024: Srikanth, Treesa-Gayatri storm into the quarterfinals, Sindhu, Lakshya Sen crash out

The third day of the Swiss Open 2024 saw some thrilling pre-quarterfinal matches take place at St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland. After a rather encouraging second day for the Indian shuttlers, the Super 300 badminton tournament witnessed some mixed results from the Indian contingent.

The women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand and India’s men’s singles stars Kidambi Srikanth, Kiran George, and Priyanshu Rajawat secured wins to enter the last eight.

However, India’s leading shuttlers, PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen, and the duo of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto went down in their respective pre-quarterfinal encounters. India’s two mixed doubles pairs of Sikki Reddy and Sumeeth Reddy and Sathish Kumar Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath also lost their matches.

A closer look at some of the results of the Indian shuttlers at the Swiss Open 2024:

In a tightly contested encounter, Indian pair Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa, who were looking to gain some substantial points to improve their ranking in the race to the Paris Olympics, went down fighting to Japan's Rui Hirokami and Yuna Kato in their round of 16 match. The Indian pair succumbed to a defeat with a scoreline of 17-21, 16-21.

However, India’s other women’s doubles duo of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, who are also looking to clinch a Paris Olympics berth, comfortably beat fellow countrymen Shruti Mishra and Priya Konjengbam.

Jolly and Gopichand, who have had mixed performances in the last few weeks, secured a convincing victory with a score of 21-10, 21-12 to enter the quarterfinals. They will now take on Angela Yu and Setyana Mapasa of Australia.

The men's singles category witnessed several positive results from the Indian shuttlers. India’s ace shuttler, Kidambi Srikanth, who has struggled to make it past the last 16 in recent times, showcased his class. The former World No. 1 put on a dominating performance as he outplayed Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia to beat him with a scoreline of 21-16, 21-15.

Meanwhile, Kiran George also secured a hard-fought victory, making a comeback after going down in the first set. The 24-year-old held his composure in the second game, clinching it 22-20 before narrowly winning the decider 21-18. The final score of the match was 18-21, 22-20, 21-18.

Another positive result in the men’s singles category was when Indian shuttler Priyanshu Rajawat beat China's Lei Lan Xi with a scoreline of 21-14, 21-13.

However, the day ended on a sour note as in-form Lakshya Sen faced a defeat at the hands of Chia Hao Lee from Chinese Taipei and went down 17-21, 15-21.

The women's singles category also witnessed heartbreak as two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu was defeated in a thrilling three-set match by Japan's Tomoka Miyazaki. Despite putting up a valiant effort, Sindhu couldn't secure the final set and ultimately went down to her Japanese counterpart with a scoreline of 21-16, 19-21, 16-21.

Swiss Open 2024: Results at the end of day three (Indians only)

Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa (India) lost to Rui Hirokami and Yuna Kato (Japan) 17-21, 16-21

Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand (India) beat Shruti Mishra and Priya Konjengbam (India) 21-10, 21-12

Kidambi Srikanth (India) beat Lee Zii Jia (Malaysia) 21-16, 21-15

PV Sindhu (India) lost to Tomoka Miyazaki (Japan) 21-16, 19-21, 16-21

Sathish Kumar Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath (India) lost to Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei (Malaysia) 17-21, 14-21

Kiran George (India) beat Alex Lanier (France) 18-21, 22-20, 21-18

Sikki Reddy and Sumeeth Reddy (India) lost to Robin Tabeling and Selena Piek (Netherlands) 11-21, 14-21

Priyanshu Rajawat (India) beat Lei Lan Xi (China) 21-14, 21-13

Lakshya Sen (India) lost to Chia Hao Lee (Chinese Taipei) 17-21, 15-21