All England Open Badminton Championships Day 2 Roundup: PV Sindhu knocked out, Chirag/Satwik win their first match
Disappointing outing for India’s superstar PV Sindhu as she lost her first-round match in the All England Open on March 15. However, the duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy enter the Round of 16 after their phenomenal display in England.
On the other hand, experienced Srikanth Kidambi cruised into the next round with an emphatic victory whereas Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand too reached the next round.
Here’s a look at the Day 2 matches:
Men’s Singles
Srikanth Kidambi vs Toma Junior Popov
The French badminton player started on a terrific note by beating Srikanth in the first game but couldn’t maintain his consistency in the next two games. The Indian shuttler came back with a bang in the final two games to defeat Popov 19-21, 21-14, 21-5 to enter the next round.
He clearly dominated in the second and third games after losing the first one. Now, Srikanth will be up against the Japanese champion Kodai Naraoka. Naraoka has been brilliant in the last couple of years and would like to end Srikanth’s campaign, however, the Indian baddie will have to use all his experience to stay in the competition.
Women’s Singles
PV Sindhu vs Zhang Yiman
It is very rare to see a player like PV Sindhu making an early exit from the tournament but it happened in this edition of the All England. She was eliminated by the Chinese baddie Zhang Yiman who won the bronze medal in the 2021 World Championships.
Sindhu lost the game 17-21, 11-21 with no intent shown from the Indian shuttler. Zhang will now face her countrymate He Bingjiao in the Round of 16.
Men’s Doubles
Chirag Shetty/Satwiksairaj Rankireddy vs Krishna Prasad Garaga/Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala
The Indian derby proved to be an easy one for the champion pair as they defeated Garaga and Panjala 21-13, 21-13 to enter Round 2 of the All England Open.
Chirag and Satwik would like to continue their winning momentum in the next game
Earlier, Chirag and Satwik had to play against Gideon and Sukamuljo in their first round but the Indonesian pair opted out of the tournament. However, the next match against Liang Weikang and Wang Chang won’t be easy for the duo. They need to tackle the Chinese pair well to reach the quarters.
Arjun Madathil Ramachandran/Dhruv Kapila vs Ren Xiangyu/Tan Qiang
This was not a good sight for the badminton fans to see Dhruv and Arjun getting eliminated in the first Round. They have been great in the past but the pair went down in straight games 16-21, 15-21 to end their campaign.
The Chinese pair Ren and Tan reached the next round after their one-sided performance. There are still a lot of tournaments left this year and the India duo would want to get back in a rhythm soon.
Women’s Doubles
Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand vs Rawinda Prajongjai/Jongkolphan Kititharakul
The energetic pair of Jolly and Gopichand are through to the next round after beating Prajongjai and Jongkolphan 21-18, 21-14. There was hardly any scene where the Indian pair struggled, in fact, the victory would motivate them going forward.
Jolly and Gopichand defeated Prajongjai and Jongkolphan in the first round of All England Open
The duo of Jolly and Gopichand is the only hope left in the category after Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam crashed out of the tournament.
Ashwini Bhat/Shikha Gautam vs Baek Ha-na/Lee So-hee
It was one of the terrible defeats for the Indians in this championship where Bhat and Gautam lost to the South Korean pair 9-21, 8-21. They couldn’t even reach double figures in any of the games.
It was a one-sided affair with no competitive spirit seen from the Indian women’s pair. Now, with their early exit, the only hope in the women’s category is the duo of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand.
What’s on Day 3?
Three big names are set to take place on Day 3 of the All England Open with Prannoy, Sen and Srikanth, all set to win their next match. In Men’s doubles, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will face the Chinese pair of Liang Weikang and Wang Chang.
The Women’s doubles will witness Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand taking on the Japanese pair of Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota.