Aakarshi Kashyap Advances in Orleans Masters Badminton Tournament

Aakarshi Kashyap Advances to Main Draw

Indian badminton player Aakarshi Kashyap is set to compete in the main draw of the ongoing Orleans Masters tournament after successfully winning both of her qualifying matches. On Tuesday, at the Palais des Sports in France, the world ranked 63rd player began her journey with a hard-fought victory against compatriot Shriyanshi Valishetty, finishing the match with scores of 21-19, 17-21, 21-13, which lasted just over an hour.

Following this, she secured her spot in the main draw by defeating Lee Yu-Hsuan from Chinese Taipei. In her first match of the main draw, she will face Singapore's Yeo Jia Min, a bronze medalist from the Commonwealth Games.

Men's Singles Disappointment

In contrast, Sankar Subramanian, the only male player representing India in singles, was unable to progress in the tournament. He faced a tough challenge and lost to Malaysia's Olympic bronze medalist Lee Zii Jia with scores of 21-12, 21-18.

Mixed Results in Doubles

The women's doubles team of Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam exited the tournament early, having to concede a walkover against Japan's Rui Hirokami and Sayaka Hobara in the first round. However, there was a silver lining as the men's doubles duo of MR Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan advanced to the second round after their opponents from Czechia, Jiri Kral and Ondej Kral, retired following the first game.

Other Indian Players Begin Their Campaign

Several other Indian players, including former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth, along with rising stars Ayush Shetty, Malvika Bansod, Anmol Kharb, and Tanvi Sharma, are also set to start their matches in France at the BWF Super 300 tournament on Wednesday.

Top Players Miss the Tournament

Notably, several prominent Indian shuttlers, including the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu, and Paris 2024 semi-finalist Lakshya Sen, have opted out of this tournament.