Anupama Upadhyaya won the battle between two rising women’s singles players while Malvika Bansod and Priyanshu Rajawat put up a fight against higher-ranked opponents but ended on the losing side in the opening round of the India Open 2025 at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall here on Wednesday. Malvika saved two game points in the opening game and fought back from 7-14 to 16-16 in the second against women’s singles third seed Han Yue of China before going down 20-22, 21-16, 21-11 in an hour and six minutes.
The comeback bid of Asian Games and World Championships bronze medallist H.S Prannoy was cut short by Su Li Yang as the 32-year-old Indian went down 16-21, 21-18, 21-12 in an hour and 13 minutes.
Rajawat saved a match point in the second game to force a decider against the 2023 world championships silver medallist and sixth seed Kodai Naraoka but could not avoid a 21-16, 22-20, 21-13 loss in a match that lasted an hour and 22 minutes in the BWF World Tour Super 750 tournament.
Earlier, the all-Indian clash between academy-mates Anupama and Rakshitha Sree Santosh Ramraj turned out to be a battle of wits between two good friends with experience triumphing the youth. Former National champion Anupama engaged Rakshitha in long rallies, not giving her many chances to use the big smash to win 21-17, 21-18 in 43 minutes to advance to the second round.
Anupama will now face Japanese sixth seed Tomaka Miyazaki, who recovered from the second-game slump to beat Thailand’s Pornpicha Choeikeewong 21-7, 22-24, 21-9 in the first round.
Also advancing to the next round were the seventh-seeded women’s doubles combination of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto, Rutuparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda, and the mixed doubles combination of Ashith Surya and Amruta Pramuthesh.
Ashwini and Tanisha defeated compatriots Kavya Gupta and Radhika Sharma 21-11, 21-12 while the Panda sisters, Rutaparna and Swetaparna, got the better of the young Thai combination of Phattarin Aiamvareesrisakul and Sarisa Janpeng 7-21, 21-19, 21-14. Ashith and Amruta then teamed up to beat K Tarun and Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli 21-14, 21-15 to advance to the mixed doubles second round.
But it was the heart-breaking losses of the young guns, Malvika and Rajawat, that left the home badminton fans speechless as both of them played their hearts out.
Malvika, who had gone down in a straight game against Han last week in Malaysia, started strong in the opening game and though the Chinese took control of the game in the later stage, kept her nerves and forced errors to save two game points and pocket the first game. It looked like she could do an encore in the second after winning eight the nine points from 7-14 but a couple of errors derailed her effort and the experienced Han tightened the noose in the decider.
In the men’s singles match, Rajawat displayed delectable stroke play and employed big jump smashes to keep pace with Naroaka. The Japanese shuttler was made to work hard for every point and the error the Indian forced the sixth seed to commit at match point in the second game after a long rally showed that he was prepared for the scrap. But once again it was the experience of Naraoka that counted in the final analysis.
Important results:
Men’s singles
Loh Kean Yew (Sin) bt Chia Hao Lee (Tpe) 21-15, 22-20; 6-Kodai Naroaka (Jpn) bt Priyanshu Rajawat 21-16, 20-22, 21-13; 2-Jonathan Christie (Ina) bt Wang Tzu Wei (Tpe) 21-18, 21-15; Su Li Yang (Tpe) bt HS Prannoy (Ind) 16-21, 21-18, 21-12.
Women’s singles: 8-Pornpawee Chochuwong (Tha) bt Aakarshi Kashyap (Ind) 21-17, 21-13, 6-Tomaka Miyazaki (Jpn) bt Pornpicha Choeikeewong (Tha) 21-7, 22-24, 21-9, Anupama Upadhyaya (Ind) bt Rakshita Sree SR (Ind) 21-17, 21-18; 3-Han Yue (Chn) bt Malvika Bansod (Ind) 20-22, 21-16, 21-11; 1-An Se Young (Kor) bt Chiu Pin-Chian (Tpe) 22-20, 21-15
Men’s doubles:
Ben Lane/Sean Vendy (Eng) bt Chaynit Joshi/Mayank Rana (Ind) 21-8, 21-14; 2-Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang (Chn) bt Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi (Mas) 21-12, 19-21, 21-15
Women’s doubles:
Rutuparna Panda/Swetparna Panda (Ind) bt Phattarin Aiamvareesrisakul/Sarisa Janpeng (Tha) 7-21, 21-19, 21-14; 7-Ashwini Ponnappa/Tanisha Crasto (Ind) bt Kavya Gupta/Radhika Sharma (Ind) 21-11, 21-12; Kim Hye Jeong/Kong Hee Yong (Kor) bt Mansa Rawat/Gayatri Rawat (Ind) 21-7, 21-3
Mixed doubles:
4-Goh Soon Huat/Lai Shevon Jemie (Mas) bt Rinov Rivaldy/Lisa Ayu Kusumawati (Ina) 21-17, 21-17; Ashith Surya/Amruta Pramuthesh (Ind) bt K Tarun/Sri Priya Krishna Kudaravalli 21-14, 21-15.
–IANS
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