Top five Indian performers at Swiss Open 2022

The shuttlers from the country had a successful outing at the Super 300 tournament.

The Swiss Open 2022 saw some exhilarating performances from Indian badminton players. With PV Sindhu lifting the women's singles title, the men's singles players also did not disappoint this time, with HS Prannoy ending up as the runner-up. The Indian badminton fraternity is getting stronger. The Swiss Open proved that not only Sindhu but even the men's singles players are on the rise. Let's take a look at the top five performers at the recently concluded tournament. 

5. Parupalli Kashyap

Parupalli Kashyap entered the quarter-finals of the Swiss Open after top seed, Victor Axelsen gave a walkover. Prior to that, he defeated French shuttler Enogat Roy in straight sets in a dominant display. He went on to meet compatriot HS Prannoy in the quarters, who eventually became the runner-up of the competition.

Kashyap lost to his compatriot in straight games 21-16, 21-16 in a topsy-turvy match that lasted for 43 minutes. However, reaching the Swiss Open 2022 last eight was his best performance so far this year. 

4. Ashwini Ponappa & N Sikki Reddy

The women's doubles pair of Ashwini Ponappa and N. Sikki Reddy reached the quarter-finals of the Swiss Open 2022. On their way, they defeated the Swiss duo of Aline Muller and Jenjira Stadelmann in the first round in straight sets. They followed it up with another dominating display against Yvonne Li and Irins Wang in the second round.

The Indian duo were defeated by Malaysia's Vivian Hoo & Lim Chiew Sien in straight games 21-23, 20-22 in the quarter-finals. The match lasted for 54 minutes. However, they gave a tough fight and it was an impressive performance after a long time by the Indian duo. 

3. Srikanth Kidambi

World Championship silver medalist and former World No. 1 Srikanth Kidambi went past World No. 3, Anders Antonsen in a nail-biting encounter to cruise into the semi-finals. He prevailed 21-19, 19-21, 22-20 over the second seed to meet Jonathan Christie in the semis. Despite winning the first game, Srikanth went down 21-18, 7-21, 13-21 to the reigning Asian Games champion.

Prior to the quarter-finals, Srikanth eased past Mads Christophersen in the first round, followed by a three-game thriller against Christo Popov in the second 13-21,25-23, 21-11

2. HS Prannoy

HS Prannoy was the best men's singles player from India at the Swiss Open 2022. In the first round, he defeated compatriot B. Sai Praneeth, followed by a victory over Kalle Koljone in the second. In the quarter-finals, he met Parupalli Kashyap who he defeated in straight sets. Prannoy faced third seed Anthony Ginting in the semis. However, he created one of the upsets of the tournament when he defeated his opponent 21-19, 19-21, 21-18

He made his way into his first final in five years. However, HS Prannoy's wait for a title since 2017 still continues after his defeat to Jonathan Christie of Thailand.

1. PV Sindhu

Double Olympic gold medalist PV Sindhu did not disappoint at the Swiss Open 2022. Seeded No. 2 prior to the start of the tournament, Sindhu comfortably reached the finals in dominant fashion. On her way, she did not lose a single game, having won all her encounters in straight sets.

This was PV Sindhu's second successive final at the Swiss Open. In the previous one, she lost to Carolina Marin. The 26-year old took 49 minutes to sideline the fourth-seeded Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand. Notably, this was Sindhu's 16th win in 17 meetings, having lost to the Thai only once. Sindhu clinched the title with a win in two straight games 21-16, 21-8 . This was Sindhu's second Super 300 title this year after the Syed Modi International. 

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