New Delhi: The opening day of the India Open saw mixed results for Indian players, with disappointing performances in men’s singles but promising advancements in women’s events. Kiran George emerged as the sole Indian survivor in men’s singles after Lakshya Sen, Priyanshu Rajawat, and HS Prannoy were eliminated in contrasting matches.
Former national champion Anupama Upadhyaya shone in the women’s singles, securing her place in the second round alongside PV Sindhu. Anupama defeated her training partner, Rakshitha Sree, 21-17, 21-18, and will next face Japan’s sixth-seed and former world junior champion Tomoka Miyazaki.
In a hard-fought men’s singles match, Priyanshu Rajawat was edged out by Japan’s world number 7 Kodai Naraoka, 16-21, 22-20, 13-21, after an intense 82-minute battle. On an adjacent court, HS Prannoy fell to Chinese Taipei’s Su Li Yang in three sets, 21-16, 18-21, 12-21, while Lakshya Sen, fresh off his Syed Modi International title, lost to Chun Yi-Lin of Chinese Taipei, 15-21, 10-21.
In doubles, Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa maintained their winning momentum from the Guwahati Masters, comfortably defeating Kavya Gupta and Radhika Sharma 21-11, 21-12 to advance.
Among international players, Korea’s world number 1 and Olympic champion An Se Young began her campaign with a straight-sets win over Chiu Pin-Chian of Chinese Taipei, 22-20, 21-15. Meanwhile, Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen, a two-time Olympic champion, fought back from a set down to defeat Yu Jen Chi of Taipei, 16-21, 21-11, 21-13.
