Kiran said that fitness is his No 1 priority. “For me, my focus is on the next match. In general, I’m just looking to stay fit and healthy and choose my events wisely,” he said.
With 45 Indians — 28 entries across categories — including Kiran, this home event was looked at as an opportunity for some of the lesser-experienced shuttlers (at the highest level) from the country to gain some valuable insights ahead of a long season ahead.
Sindhu, Sat-Chi advance
PV Sindhu began her campaign with a 21-14, 22-20 victory over Chinese Taipei’s Sung Shuo-yun. Having made a fresh start in her personal life, the recently-married Sindhu is hoping for the same in her professional life. Currently ranked World No 16, the double Olympic medallist has mostly struggled against the top-ranked players in the last twelve months or she is looking to turn things around, starting with this event.
On the day, Sindhu controlled the early tempo as her World No 24 opponent predominantly toiled in the opening stanza. In the second game, Sung course-corrected to push Sindhu until the end but the Indian maintained her composure to seal the match in her favour. “After a long break, it’s always difficult to find the rhythm but I’m happy to have won the match in straight games,” Sindhu, who’ll go on to face Japan’s Manami Suizu, told mediapersons after the match.
In the evening, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also advanced. But they were made to work hard by their opponents on the day, Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee of Malaysia. The former World No1 pair from India won 23-21, 19-21, 21-16.
Treesa-Gayatri out
However, it was curtains for women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand. Seeded No 5, the India duo were outgunned by their lower-ranked opponents on the day. Japan’s Arisa Igarashi and Ayako Sakuramoto crushed their hopes with a 23-21, 21-19 victory. Meanwhile, the mixed doubles combination of Druv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto had to come from behind to post a 8-21, 21-19, 21-17 result over Chinese Taipei’s Chen Cheng Kuan and Hsu Yin-Hui in the Round of 32.
