HONG KONG, SEP 10 :  Indian shuttlers Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand powered into the round of 16 in the women’s doubles, even as their compatriots came up with disappointing performances at the Hong Kong Open on Tuesday.

The Treesa-Gopichand duo defeated Ukraine’s Polina Buhrova and Yevheniia Kantemyr in a commanding straight-sets victory, 21-14, 21-13, in their opening match.

Their next challenge will be formidable as they face the Paris 2024 Olympics silver medallists Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning of China in the pre-quarterfinals. The match promises to be a stern test for the Indian pair as they look to continue their impressive run in the tournament.

Meanwhile, the other Indian women’s doubles pair, Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda, faced an early exit after losing to Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Pei-Shan and Hung En-Tzu 21-11, 21-8.

In the men’s singles qualification round, Chirag Sen and Manav Choudhary were unable to progress despite promising starts. Chirag Sen cruised through his first-round match, defeating Canada’s Lai Yin Chung 21-12, 21-10, but was later ousted by another Canadian, Xiaodong Sheng, in a hard-fought three-set battle, 12-21, 21-13, 14-21.

Manav Choudhary also began his campaign with a win over Ukraine’s Oleksii Titov, 21-14, 21-19, but fell short against Hong Kong’s Chan Yin Chak, losing 21-6, 21-10 in his second match.

The men’s doubles team of Vaibhaav and Ashith Surya also saw their journey cut short in the qualification round. The duo lost to Hong Kong’s Lui Chun Wai and Kuei Chun Hung, 21-15, 21-9.
Looking ahead, Priyanshu Rajawat and Kiran George, ranked 36th and 41st in the world, respectively, are set to begin their men’s singles campaigns on Wednesday. In women’s singles, world No. 39 Aakarshi Kashyap and Tanya Hemanth will also be in action, aiming to make their mark in the opening rounds.

India’s mixed doubles teams are gearing up for their opening matches, including Commonwealth Games medallists B. Sumeeth Reddy and N. Sikki Reddy, who will be joined by the pairs of Kona Tarun-Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli and Ashith Surya-Amrutha Pramuthesh. (UNI)