Hylo Open: Pair of Satwik - Chirag advance to the second round

Another upsetting result for Saina Nehwal as she bows out in the first round.

The second day proved an improvement from the first for the Indian shuttlers at the BWF Hylo Open 300 event in Saarbrucken, Germany with many registering their first-round wins. The day had a couple of withdrawals as well with the in-form HS Prannoy and India’s second-best men's doubles pairing of Dhruv Kapila/MR Arjun not playing their respective matches which might be due to injuries.

Satwik/Chirag on a winning spree

Satwik/Chirag after their famous title win at the French Open was on the verge of an exit in the opening round at the Hylo Open but saved two match points in the end to survive a major scare. The Indian pair was up against Chinese Taipei Lee Yang and Lu Chen with the former being a Tokyo Olympic gold medallist.

 The Chinese Taipei pair was inexperienced with both having not played much together but they put up a good fight. The Indians lost the opening set 19-21 and in the second set when the Indians were 17-19 down the pair won four straight points to take the match to the decider. Both Satwik and Chirag were not happy with a few line calls and had the referees' intervention. In the next round, they face Rory Easton and Zach Russ.

Better results

Malvika Bansod progressed to the second round defeating world-rank 39 Azurmendi in three sets. The match got off to a fast start but as the game went Malvika took complete control of the match winning (20-22, 21-12, 21-6). The youngster next faces Kirsty Gilmour from Scotland.

Akarshi Kashyap won the opening round beating Leonice Huet from France in three sets. After winning the opening game Akarshi couldn't capitalize on the momentum and lost the second in poor fashion. The third set was a one-sided one with the Indian winning the match comfortably.

Gayatri Gopichand/Treesa Jolly defeated world rank 22 Linda Efler/Isabel Luhau in straight sets. This should be a morale-boosting win for the young duo beating the top 25-ranked pair. Krishna Prasad Garaga/Panjala won a close match against the other Indian pairing of Ravikrishna/Sankar Prasad in three sets.

Kidambi Srikanth won a tricky first-round match against  China’s Guang Zu in three sets. Srikanth after losing the first game came back strongly playing the attacking game which helped Srikanth gain back the lost momentum. He next faces Merkle from the host nation.

Although it was an upsetting result for Saina Nehwal as she crashes out in the first round against Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan 15-21 8-21.