Lakshya Sen bows out of Thailand Open; Malvika, Aakarshi, Unnati advance

Bangkok: Star Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen suffered a shock defeat but the trio of Malvika Bansod, Aakarshi Kashyap and Unnati Hooda advanced to the women's singles second round after hard-fought victories in the USD 475,000 Thailand Open Super 500 tournament here on Wednesday.

World No. 10 pair of Tressa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, currently the best-ranked Indians in the world, also made a positive start to their campaign, reaching the second round with a 21-15 21-13 win over Malaysia's Ong XY and C Ting.

The third-seeded Indian combination, which is returning after missing the Sudirman Cup mixed team championships due to injuries, will next square off against Japan's Rui Hirokami and Sayaka Hobara.

Sen, a 2021 World Championships bronze medallist, fell to Ireland's Nhat Nguyen in a tense three-game battle, losing 18-21 21-9 17-21 in a men's singles match that lasted one hour and 20 minutes.

After dropping the first game, Sen found his rhythm in the second, dominating with aggressive rallies. However, Nguyen held his nerve in a close-decider, edging ahead at 17-13 before sealing the win.

World No. 33 Priyanshu Rajawat too made a first-round exit as he went down 13-21 21-17 16-21 against Alwi Farhan of Indonesia.

In women's singles, world No. 23 Malvika, a runner-up at the 2024 Hylo Open, ousted Turkey's Neslihan Arin 21-12 13-21 21-17 to set up a clash with former world champion Ratchanok Intanon, seeded seventh.

Aakarshi survived a thrilling contest against Japan's Kaoru Sugiyama, winning 21-16 20-22 22-20. It was a match of narrow margins, with the Indian holding her nerve in the final stages of the decider.

The 17-year-old Unnati, the 2022 Odisha Masters and 2023 Abu Dhabi Masters winner, also fought her way through to the next round, registering a gritty 21-14 18-21 23-21 victory over Thailand's Thamonwan Nithiittikrai.

Unnati, who reached the semifinals at Taipei Open last week, will face top seed Thai Pornpawee Chochuwong, while Aakarshi meets fourth seeded Supanida Katethong, also from Thailand.

However, it was the end of the road for Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj, who lost her women's singles opener 18-21 7-21 to eighth seed Yeo Jia Min of Singapore.

Former national champion Anupama Upadhyaya, who was part of India's Sudirman Cup team, too fell by the wayside, going down 11-21 9-21 to Thailand's former world champion Ratchanok Intanon.

The women's pair of K Selvam and S Singhi, and men's pair of P Krishnamurthy Roy and S Pratheek K also lost in the opening round of doubles events.

National Games gold medallist Tharun Mannepalli will face Justin Hoh of Malaysia later in the day.