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We are a couple of months into the Olympic year and badminton action has shifted to Paris with the French Open, in a small preview of what fans can expect at the Games. There were four Indian matches today at the Arena Porte de la Chapelle, divided equally between doubles and singles.
First on the court were the women's doubles duo of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto, as they took on compatriots Treesa Jolly and Gayathri Gopichand. The last time the two pairs faced each other on the international stage was in January, at the Thailand Masters.
Back then, Jolly and Gopichand had pulled off a convincing victory, and they were able to do the same this time around. Crasto and Ponnappa got off to a strong start, clinching the first set 21-16. However, Treesa and Gayathri quickly fought back to seal the deal 21-19, 21-17.
The other Indian doubles pair in action on Tuesday (March 5) at the French Open was the World No. 1 duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. The first seeds were facing Malaysia's Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi, who didn't pose much of a challenge.
Displaying their typical aggression from the backcourt and dominating the net with controlled dribbles and pushes, Rankireddy and Shetty got the better of the World No. 12’s 21-13, 24-22.
The first Indian men's singles player on the court today was Lakshya Sen. The shuttler has been dealing with a small slump as of late but notched an important win today. Sen was facing Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama, and had a slow start to the game.
Tsuneyama managed to win the first set 21-15, before the Indian made a roaring comeback to grab a top 16 berth with a scoreline of 21-15, 21-3.
The last Indian shuttler playing today at the French Open was Priyanshu Rajawat. The youngster was up against reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen, and couldn't get past the dominant Dane. Axelsen took the first set with ease, and while Rajawat seemed stronger in the second set it still wasn't enough. The first seed eventually won the game 21-8, 21-15.
2024 French Open: Full results (Indians Only)
Women's Doubles
Treesa Jolly/Gayathri Gopichand (India) beat Tanisha Crasto/Ashwini Ponnappa (India) 16-21, 21-19, 21-17
Men's Doubles
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty (India) beat Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi (Malayalam) 21-13, 24-22
Men's Singles
Lakshya Sen (India) beat Kanta Tsuneyama (Japan) 15-21, 21-15, 21-3
Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) beat Priyanshu Rajawat (India) 21-8, 21-15
