All England Open Badminton Championships Day 2 Roundup: Sen and Satwik-Chirag storm into the second round

After a disappointing Day 1 in Birmingham, the Indian shutters gave better performances on the second day at the 2024 All England Open. The pairs of Tanisha Crasto/ Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/ Chirag Shetty reached the second round while Lakshya Sen also got a brilliant start. 

However, Priyanshu Rajawat and the Panda sisters failed to get past the Round of 32. Here’s a look at the Day 2 matches:

Men’s Singles

Priyanshu Rajawat vs Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo

Priyanshu Rajawat faced Indonesia’s Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo in his first-round match in Birmingham. The 22-year-old Indian shuttler looked good in the first game as he gave tough competition to Wardoyo despite losing 21-19. In the second game, Rajawat made a spectacular comeback from trailing 9-7 to leading 9-17. 

Forcing the match into a decider, the Indian shuttler won the second game 11-21. The decider was expected to be a contest of nip and tuck, however, Rajawat struggled to compete against the Indonesian shuttler throughout the game. After 57 minutes, the game ended in favor of Wardoyo 21-19, 11-21, 21-9. 

Rajawat was also eliminated in the first round of the 2024 French Open by World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen. However, Wardoyo will face China’s Shi Yuqi, who took down the likes of Danish shuttler Rasmus Gemke in the Round of 32. 

Lakshya Sen vs Magnus Johannesen

After the first-round elimination of HS Prannoy, Srikanth Kidambi and Priyanshu Rajawat, the 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medalist had a huge responsibility on his shoulders of staying in the competition. 

Lakshya Sen faced Denmark’s Magnus Johannesen in his first match at the All-England Open. Playing at Court 4 of the Utilita Arena Birmingham, Sen picked up speed in the first game after the mid-game break. The 22-year-old kept cheering himself after every point as he won the first game 21-14. 

Interestingly, the second game followed the same story as Sen became the only Indian shuttler to reach the second round in the men’s singles category in the 2024 All-England Open 21-14, 21-14 after a contest that lasted 40 minutes. 

In the next round, Sen will lock horns against another Danish shutter. However, this time, he’ll get tougher competition, as he’ll be facing the 2024 Malaysia Open winner Anders Antonsen, who’s currently World No. 3. 

Antonsen stunned Japanese shuttler Kanta Tsuneyama in the Round of 16 on Wednesday. Sen, who reached the final in Birmingham in 2022, will be looking forward to becoming the third Indian to win the prestigious All-England Badminton Championships. 

Men’s Doubles

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty vs Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who won the 2024 French Open last week, stated that they are looking forward to winning the All-England Open before the upcoming Paris Olympics. Last week, they also became the first Indian pair to accumulate more than 10000 points in the BWF rankings. 

Nevertheless, the top seed pair was drawn against Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in the Round of 32 in Birmingham. Facing the Indonesian pair, Satwik and Chirag stood solid. However, the Indian pair still made a few errors that would have been avoided. They won the first game 21-18 and continued their agile approach on the other side of the court too. 

In the second game, Satwik and Chirag stepped on that accelerator and sealed the match 21-18, 21-14 in only 34 minutes. The Indian pair will face another Indonesian pair of Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana, who defeated Scotland’s Alexander Dunn and Adam Hall in the first round. 

Women’s Doubles

Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa vs Yeung Nga Ting and Yeung Pui Lam

Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa provided a stellar display of their on-court prowess against Hong Kong’s Yeung Nga Ting and Yeung Pui Lam in the first round of the All England Open on Wednesday. The India pair got a blazing start in the first game as they quickly accumulated a 14-5 lead over Ting and Lam.

Castro and Ponnappa got in the pole position when they secured the first game 21-13 against the Hong Kongese pair. The second game turned out to be a much closer contest between the two pairs, however, the Indian shuttlers didn’t let Ting and Lam overtake them on the scoreboard. With sheer dominance and a gritty performance, Castro and Ponnappa secured a spot in the Round of 16. 

In the pre-quarterfinals, they’ll face China’s Zhang Shuxian and Zheng Yu, who have been seeded fifth in the Super 1000 event. Shuxian and Yu defeated South Korea’s Jeong Na-eun and Kim Hye-jeong in the first round.

Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda vs Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi

Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda were drawn against Japan’s Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi in the first round. As soon as the match started, the Japanese pair looked confident and poised in front of the Panda sisters. Iwanaga and Nakanishi won the first game with ease 21-9. 

Unfortunately, the second game seemed like a mimeograph of the first as the Indian shuttlers were constantly struggling to stay in the match. Due to an erroneous performance, the Panda sisters lost their inaugural match 21-9, 21-9 in only 30 minutes. This year, the Panda sisters have been eliminated in the first round of four different competitions. 

What’s on Day 3? 

Day 3 is set to be a treat for all badminton enthusiasts as India’s PV Sindhu will challenge South Korea’s An Se-young for a spot in the quarter-finals. Moreover, Lakshya Sen will also face Danish shuttler Anders Antonsen in an action-packed Round of 16 match. 

In doubles action, Satwik and Chirag will face Indonesian pair Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana while Castro and Ponnappa will lock horns against fifth seed Zhang Shuxian and Zheng Yu.