Australian Open 2023: Mithun Manjunath stuns former world champion; Sindhu, Prannoy, Srikanth also advance

Published at :August 2, 2023 at 11:15 PM

Modified at :January 13, 2024 at 4:52 PM

(Courtesy : Twitter)

Lakshya Sen retired hurt from the opening round.

India’s top ranked singles shuttlers, HS Prannoy and PV Sindhu sailed through to the pre-quarterfinals of Australian Open 2023. Mithun Manjunath also put up a spirited effort against former World champion and WR-7 Loh Kean Yew to progress to the next round.

Among the other Indians in the fray, Kidambi Srikanth had a comfortable victory over Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto, getting better of him in straight games (21-8, 21-7). Aakarshi Kashyap, on the other hand, got the better of Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei– recording an opening round win after six BWF World Tour tournaments.

Elsewhere, sixth seeded HS Prannoy had to dig deep for an opening round win over Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu, with the match lasting for close to 70 minutes. After winning the opening game, HS Prannoy lost momentum but made a comeback in the decider to seal a win.

Youngster Mithun Manjunath’s win against Loh Kean Yew was the most cherished point of the day for Indian fans. The youngster after winning the opening game, had an easy sailing in the second having seven match points. But Loh Kean Yew made an excellent comeback to win six straight points but couldn’t win the match given the huge deficit.

Lakshya Sen, after just a few minutes into the encounter against Kiran George, retired with possibly a minor injury. This could also be a precautionary move to retire ahead of the upcoming World Championships.

In women’s singles, PV Sindhu recorded her first win in nearly two weeks after exiting from the opening rounds of Korea and Japan Open respectively. She did not face much challenge from compatriot Ashmita Chaliha and is next set to face Aakarshi Kashyap in an All-India clash for a place in the Australian Open 2023 quarter-finals.

Mixed doubles action saw Rohan Kapoor/Sikki Reddy and Sumeeth Reddy/Ashwini Ponappa lose their opening round fixtures in straight games. With this Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand are the only Indian doubles contingent left (across three categories).

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India’s Performance on Day 2 of Australian Open 2023

Men’s Singles Round of 32

Kidambi Srikanth beat Kenta Nishimoto (21-18, 21-7)

Mithun Manjunath beat Loh Kean Yew (21-19, 21-19)

HS Prannoy beat Lee Cheuk Yew (21-18, 16-21, 21-15)

Priyanshu Rajawat beat Nathan Tang (21-12, 21-16)

Lakshya Sen lost to Kiran George (0-5) /*retired

Women’s Singles Round of 32

PV Sindhu beat Ashmita Chaliha (21-18, 21-13)

Tasnim Mir lost to Cahya Dewi (13-21, 7-21)

Aakarshi kashyap beat Goh Jin Wei (21-15, 21-17)

Malvika Bansod lost to Pai Yu Po (20-22, 11-21)

Mixed Doubles (Rund of 32

Rohan Kapoor/Sikki Reddy lost to Seo Seung Jae/Chae Yu Jung (14-21, 18-21)

Sumeeth Reddy/Ashwini Ponappa lost to Hiroki Mirodikawa/Natsu Saito (13-21, 12-21)

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