The action-packed saga of Badminton at the grand stage of Indonesia Open 2023 continued to Day 2 where we witnessed the remaining ‘Round of 32’ fixtures. The Super 1000 event of the BWF World Tour is now set to progress towards its second round where we are left with only 16 contenders in each category. 

Having made it to the second round of the mega-event, participating combatants will be now preparing themselves to make a rightful claim on the title. We witnessed enthralling action and high-quality matches on the opening day of the tournament where all participants were battling to get the first edge. 

It continued for the second day as well and the Indian contingent also kept their heads high while aiming for the breakthroughs. It was a great day at the office for the flag bearers of the tri-color as 4 Indian players participated in Singles categories and three of them finished their games with good news. 

Let’s take a look at the highlights of Day 2 matches: 

Men’s Singles

Priyanshu Rajawat vs Kanlavut Vitidsarn

The budding Indian shutter did not have to take the battlefield against his Thailand opponent as he got a walkover win in the first round. It came as quite a shocking piece of news for the Thai fans who witnessed the 22-year-old youngster gracing the champions’ podium of the 2023 Thailand Open after eliminating Lakshya Sen in the semi-final a couple of weeks ago. 

Rajawat will be now squaring off the local lad Anthony Ginting in the next round with an aim to make his maiden Indonesia Open campaign memorable. Ginting recently knocked out the veteran Hans-Kristian Vittinghus and is considered a dark horse among the title contenders.  

Kidambi Srikanth vs Lu Guangzu

Srikanth is determined to replicate his own feat of clinching the Indonesia Open title

The face of the Indian Men’s Singles contingent also joined the party to make it through the opening round of the tournament.  Kidambi Srikanth who was eliminated from the first round of the previous edition did not replicate his blunders this time and managed to outperform his Chinese opponent convincingly. 

The star Indian shuttler kick-started the clash on an aggressive note and went on to win the first set by 21-13. The former Australian Open winner Lu Guangzu played his heart out to bounce back in the second set but eventually lost the tie by 21-19 after showcasing a tough fightback. 

Lakshya Sen vs Lee Zii Jia

It was then the time for the rising star Lakshya Sen to take the stage and register another qualification from India to the Round of 16 charts. The reigning Commonwealth Games gold medalist faced the Malaysian top seed Lee Zii Jia and squashed him through straight sets on a final scoreline of 21-17 and 21-13. 

Lakshya’s next challenge into the Men’s Singles category will be a bigger one as he will be up against his countryman Kidambi Srikanth who is also drafted to the third section of the bottom half. 

The 21-year-old bowed out of the previous Indonesia Open edition when he faced another star from his nation HS Prannoy and lost the battle in a one-sided manner. The head-to-head record is also not going in the favour of Sen as he has ended up on the losing side of both encounters against the Ravulapalem-born baddy. 

Women’s Singles

Aakarshi Kashyap vs An Se-young

Aakarshi Kashyap turned out to be the only player from the Indian contingent who couldn’t advance to the ‘Round of 16’ stage on Day 2. The Chattisgarh-based feminine couldn’t even put up a strong fight against the South Korean rival An Se-young who is currently ranked World No. 2 in the Women’s Singles category. 

Aakarshi looked helpless against the dominant South Korean star

Kashyap was dominated by the 21-year-old right from the opening service of the match and eventually prevailed by 21-10 for the first set. The second set saw an even more aggressive approach from the former Indonesia Open champion who took the stage by storm as Akarshi could fetch only four points before her surrender. 

With Kashyap’s elimination from the tournament, PV Sindhu now remains the only hope for the Indian contingent in the forthcoming ‘Round of 16’ bouts.