Parupalli Kashyap exits as Satwiksairaj Rankireddy gets double joy in Japan Open
Parupalli Kashyap failed to make it to the men’s singles main draw of the Japan Open Super Series badminton tournament even as young Satwiksairaj Rankireddy made it to the main draw of both the mixed and men’s doubles.
Parupalli Kashyap defeated Denmark’s Emil Holst 21-15 21-14 in the opening round before going down narrowly to Japan’s Yu Igarashi 11-21 21-18 14-21 to crash out of the Japan Open Super Series.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy displayed unrelenting will and stamina as he played four matches on the qualifying round to make it to the main draw of both men’s and mixed doubles events at the Japan Open Super Series here today. In the women’s singles, PV Sinhu could once again find herself going up against Nozomi Okuhara should she make the knockout rounds.
The 17-year-old from Andra Pradesh paired up with his men’s doubles partner Chirag Shetty to edge past Japan’s Hirokatsu Hashimoto and Hiroyuki Saeki 14-21 22-20 21-18 in the opening round and then defeated another local combination of Keiichiro Matsui and Yoshinori Takeuchi 21-18 21-12 to qualify for the main draw.
The Indian duo, who had reached their maiden Super Series quarterfinals last week at Korea, will face third seeded Indonesian combo of Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo tomorrow.
Satwik also paired up with Ashwini Ponnappa to beat Japanese combo of Hiroki Midorikawa and Natsu Saito 21-13 21- 15 and then the Indian combo notched up a 21-18 21-9 win over another local pair of Hiroki Okamura and Naru Shinoya 21-18 21-9 to enter the main draw of mixed doubles event.
The new Indian mixed doubles pair, who had been in good form at the Sudirman Cup, will take on Thailand’s Tinn Isriyanet and Pacharapun Chochuwong tomorrow.
In the main draw of mixed doubles, Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy overcame Japan’s Tomoya Takashina and Rie Etoh 21-19 17-21 21-15 to advance to the second round here.