-MyKhel
Odense (Denmark), October 17: India’s PV Sindhu and Akarshi Kashyap secured hard-fought wins to progress to the second round of the women’s singles competition in Denmark Open 2023 on Tuesday (October 17) at the Arena Fyn in Odense, Denmark.
Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu saw off Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour 21-14, 18-21, 21-10 in 56 minutes on court 2 in the women’s singles opener. The 28-year-old, who has had a disappointing year so far, will next face Indonesia’s seventh seed Gregoria Mariska Tunjung.
Meanwhile, Kashyap came from a game down to defeat Germany’s Yvonne Li by a scoreline of 10-21, 22-20, 21-12 in the first round match that lasted for 55 minutes on Court 3. The 22-year-old will meet Thailand’s Supanida Katethong in the round of 16.
The two Indian women’s singles players will be in round of 16 action on Thursday (October 19) and will look to keep the country’s challenge alive in the Denmark Open Super 750 tournament. However, it was the end of the road for former World Championship bronze medallist Kidambi Srikanth and the Commonwealth Games 2022 gold medallist Lakshya Sen in men’s singles.
Srikanth, who was part of the Asian Games 2023 silver-winning men’s team, made an early exit following a defeat in three games by a scoreline of 21-19, 10-21, 16-21 in an hour and 14 minutes on court 3 against China’s Weng Hong Yang. Sen, who was also part of Asian Games silver-winning men’s team, lost in straight games against Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen. The 22-year-old lost by a scoreline of 16-21, 18-21 in 46 minutes on court 3. Earlier on Tuesday (October 17), the country’s top doubles team and world number 1 pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty withdrew from their opening round match against Malaysia’s Ong Yew Sing and Teo Ee Yi.
Satwik-Chirag pair, who won a historic gold at the Asian Games 2023, joined another historic bronze winner in Hangzhou 2022, HS Prannoy, in pulling out of the tournament in Denmark.
While Rankireddy and Shetty’s reason to withdraw is yet to be known, Prannoy had revealed about a back injury which is likely to keep him out of the tournaments in Denmark and France.