Fresh from their semifinal-run at the All England Open last week, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand went out in the opening round of the women’s doubles main draw at the Swiss Open Super 300 in Basel on Tuesday.
The rising doubles pair from India ran into one of the best in the world right now in second seeds Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti and came up short in the opening round at St Jakobshalle. The Indian youngsters were at level-pegging in the first half of both the games but went on to lose 14-21, 14-21 against the world No 5.
Also bowing out in the opening round were Dhruv Kapila and MR Arjun, in a tough three-game battle against Akira Koga and Taichi Saito, the two pairs separated by just a place in the world ranking. The world No 25 from Japan won 17-21, 21-18, 21-11
Elsewhere, Malvika Bansod was among the Indian shuttlers who came through qualification to reach the main draw. She defeated USA’s Lauren Lam 21-17, 21-7. Aakarshi Kashyap also reached the main draw but through a promotion.
It was a good day for N Sikki Reddy too, as she qualified for the main draw in both women’s doubles and mixed doubles alongside Arathi Sara Sunil and Rohan Kapoor respectively.
There was, however, heartbreak in men’s singles as Maisnam Meiraba came through one round but fell at the second qualification hurdle while Priyanshu Rajawat lost out in the opening round of qualification. It was also a tough day for Ashwini Ponnappa as she endured defeats in qualification matches across women’s doubles and mixed doubles.
On Wednesday, the main draw action continues for the opening round with the likes of PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy, Satwik-Chirag and Lakshya Sen all in action.
Swiss Open Super 300: Can PV Sindhu find her rhythm as she returns to her favourite hunting ground?
Here’s a look at all the Indian results from day one of action: