What are the takeaways from India's Korea Open 2022 campaign?

Srikanth Kidambi contested in the semi-final of a tournament for the second consecutive time.

The Indian contingent had a mixed performance at the Korea Open. A lot of players made unexpected exits where they were expected to perform better and bag medals. The Super 500 event witnessed a big show from some exciting talents of the world.

The tournament went through redrawing in the women’s doubles and mixed doubles disciplines. However, despite that, the Indian shuttlers failed to perform well and bag medals.

Let’s have a look at the positives and negatives to draw out from the Indian shuttles' campaign at the Korea Open this year.

Srikanth maintains consistency

Former World No.1 Srikanth Kidambi seems to have managed to find the groove. He once again reached the semi-final of the Korea Open following his previous appearance at the Swiss Open.

The Indian shuttler had made early exits in several tournaments in the past few years before clinching silver at the World Championships 2021. Since then, Kidambi has been consistent in making it to the penultimate stages of the game.

Sindhu’s performance a matter of concern

Two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu has been phenomenal this year. She recently won the Swiss Open and also lifted the title at the Syed Modi International Championship.

However, she hasn’t registered big wins against some particular players. One such young player is An Se-young. Sindhu walked into the semi-final of Korea Open where she had to face An Se-young once again. The Indian shuttler had already failed to win a match against the Korean ace and things continued to remain worse for her in the semi-final encounter. The former World Champion lost in straight games to her opponent. Sindhu has so far failed to win even a set against An Se-young and she would look to end this streak in the upcoming tournaments.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty failed to deliver once again

India's No. 1 men's doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty started the season on a positive note by winning the India Open in January. However, since then, their second-best performance was a quarter-final appearance at the All England Open.

The duo entered with a lot of high hopes at the Korea Open 2022 but faltered once again. They were knocked out in the quarter-final for yet another time. Both Satwik and Chirag would look to better their results in the upcoming tournaments and be back to winning ways.

Lakshya Sen’s unexpected exit

Young Indian sensation Lakshya Sen was expected to continue his dream at the Korea Open after bagging silvers at the All England and German Open. However, the Indian shuttler lost in the second round of the Korea Open. Sen had entered the tournament as one of the title favourites but failed to deliver as per expectations.

Lakshya would not like to get affected by his recent showing at the Super 500 event and maintain his previous momentum as he goes into the upcoming events.

Doubles contingent dissapoints

It was yet another tournament of early-round exits for the women’s and mixed doubles shuttlers as they failed to perform well in the Korea Open. In both the categories, the players had got leaps from the initial rounds.

In women’s doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy had been promoted up the draw to the quarter-finals. However, the duo failed to capitalize on the opportunity, losing in the quarter-finals.

If we talk about the mixed doubles, then it featured Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa in the third round. The Indian pair had won their second-round clash after getting a bye in the first. However, they fail to go beyond the third round.

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