Indian Duo Shines at Arctic Open, Singles Stars Face Early Exits
Outstanding Performance by Indian Doubles Team
Photo: IANS
Vantaa, Oct 8: Krishna Prasad Garaga and Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy delivered an impressive performance at the Arctic Open, defeating the fifth-seeded Chinese pair of He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu to advance to the men's doubles pre-quarterfinals. Meanwhile, seasoned singles players HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth faced early eliminations on Thursday.
The unseeded Indian duo showcased remarkable determination after losing the first game, ultimately overcoming their opponents with scores of 10-21, 21-18, and 22-20 in a match that lasted 61 minutes.
Garaga and Roy, who previously triumphed at the Saint-Denis Reunion Open and the VI Mexican International Challenge in May, are set to compete against England's Oliver Butler and Samuel Jones for a spot in the quarter-finals.
This doubles success contrasted sharply with the singles campaign, where two prominent players were knocked out.
Srikanth, currently ranked 31st globally, started strong against Canada's Brian Yang by winning the first game. However, he couldn't maintain his lead and ultimately lost the match with scores of 15-21, 21-15, 21-13.
This defeat adds to a challenging season for Srikanth, whose best result on the BWF World Tour this year was a runner-up finish at the US Open Super 300 in June. He has now faced eight first-round exits this season.
Prannoy's journey ended abruptly against fourth seed Anders Antonsen. The 34-year-old, who reached the semi-finals at the Vietnam Open Super 100 last month, struggled against the Dane, losing 21-10, 21-9.
India's hopes in the men's singles now rest on Tharun Mannepalli, who progressed after qualifying. Mannepalli, who entered the main draw on Tuesday, defeated Denmark's Magnus Johannesen with scores of 21-16, 21-14, setting up a second-round clash with second seed Christo Popov from France.
Rounak Chouhan's campaign concluded after a tough match against China's Weng Hong Yang. Chouhan managed to recover from losing the first game to equalize, but Weng ultimately secured the win with scores of 22-20, 20-22, 21-17.
In women's singles, India's competition will continue on Thursday with two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and Tanvi Sharma entering the second round. Sixth seed Sindhu is set to face Japan's Riko Gunji, while Tanvi has a challenging match against top seed and former world champion Ratchanok Intanon from Thailand.