India Open,World Tour Super 500

[sameerph]

So, this week what was formerly known as India Super Series is being played in New Delhi and lots of Indian participation in main draw here. Sindhu is the top seed in womens singles and Saina 4th seed. In mens singles, Srikanth is the second seed, Prannoy 5th seed and Sai Praneeth 8th seed.

In women doubles, Ashwini and Siki are 6th seeds while in mixed doubles, Pranav Chopra and Sikki Reddy are 8th seeds.

[sameerph]

These are the results in mens singles so far -

[R1] (8) B. Sai Praneeth (IND,15) d. Rajiv Ouseph (ENG,23) 21-11,17-21,21-17
[R1] (2) Srikanth Kidambi (IND,3) d. Lee Cheuk Yiu (HKG,43) 21-17,21-18
[R1] Shreyansh Jaiswal (IND,167) d. (5) Prannoy H. S (IND,10) 21-4,21-6
[R1] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,55) d. Hans Vittinghus (DEN,17) 21-14,21-18

Prannoy was injured and therefore, lost tamely to a fellow Indian player. Good wins by Sai Praneeth and Kashyap over tricky opponents.

Still to come today,

[R1] Sourabh Verma (IND,52) vs. (4) Shi Yuqi (CHN,8)
[R1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,44) vs. Tommy Sugiarto (INA,29)
[R1] Subhankar Dey (IND,63) vs. Kartikey Gulshan Kumar (IND,198)
[R1] Sameer Verma (IND,30) vs. Anders Antonsen (DEN,12)

Except for all the Indian battle, all 3 other matches look tough for our players. I will be happy with win for any of those 3 - Verma brothers and Ajay.

[sameerph]

And these are womens singles results so far -

[R1] Aakarshi Kashyap (IND,241) d. Anura Prabhudesai (IND,106) 14-21,21-18,21-14
[R1] Rasika Raje (IND,97) l. (3) Ratchanok Intanon (THA,4) 4-21,6-21
[R1] Riya Mukherjee (IND,194) l. (8) Beatriz Corrales (ESP,34) 22-20,18-21,12-21
[R1] Ruthvika Shivani (IND,79) d. Amalie Hertz (DEN,210) 21-17,21-10
[R1] Reshma Karthik (IND,112) l. Line Kjaersfeldt (DEN,42) 12-21,14-21
[R1] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,12) d. Sofie Holmboe Dahl (DEN,55) 21-15,21-9
[R1] (1) Pusarla V Sindhu (IND,3) d. Natalia Koch Rohde (DEN,43) 21-10,21-13
[R1] Rituparna Das (IND,54) l. Yip Pui Yin (HKG,35) 22-20,13-21,12-21
[R1] Mugdha Agrey (IND,105) d. Ksenia Polikarpova (ISR,58) 16-21,21-17,21-12
[R1] Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka (IND,89) l. (5) Beiwen Zhang (USA,10) 19-21,22-20,12-21
[R1] Vaidehi Choudhari (IND,96) l. Linda Zetchiri (BUL,40) 19-21,15-21
[R1] Saili Rane (IND,101) l. (6) Cheung Ngan Yi (HKG,29) 14-21,5-21

So, lot more Indian women in the main draw compared to men but only 4 wins so far out 13.

Still to come today-

[R1] Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli (IND,60) vs. Thamolwan Poopradubsil (THA,120)
[R1] Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka (IND,92) vs. Gao Fangjie (CHN,50)

[sameerph]

Remaining results of the day -

[R1] Sourabh Verma (IND,52) l. (4) Shi Yuqi (CHN,8) 19-21 11-21
[R1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,44) l. Tommy Sugiarto (INA,29) 0-2 retd.
[R1] Kartikey Gulshan Kumar (IND,198) d. Subhankar Dey (IND,63) 21-17,14-21,21-13
[R1] Sameer Verma (IND,30) d. (7) Anders Antonsen (DEN,12) 22-20 21-8

[R1] Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli (IND,60) l. Thamolwan Poopradubsil (THA,120) 17-21 21-16 15-21
[R1] Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka (IND,92) l. Gao Fangjie (CHN,50) 13-21 9-21

Excellent upset win by Sameer Verma over the 7th seeded Dane.

[sameerph]

So, 6 Indian men and 5 Indian women are in the singles second round.

[R2] (Q) Kartikey Gulshan Kumar (IND,198) vs Qiao Bin (CHN,35)
[R2] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,55) vs (Q) Shreyansh Jaiswal (IND,167)
[R2] (8) Sai Praneeth B. (IND,15) vs Hu Yun (HKG,34)
[R2] Sameer Verma (IND,30) vs Tommy Sugiarto (INA,29)
[R2] (2) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,3) vs Iskandar Zulkarnain (MAS,85)

[R2] (1) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) vs Linda Zetchiri (BUL,40)
[R2] Gadde Ruthvika Shivani (IND,79) vs (8) Beatriz Corrales (ESP,34)
[R2] (Q) Aakarshi Kashyap (IND,241) vs (3) Ratchanok Intanon (THA,4)
[R2] Mugdha Agrey (IND,105) vs (5) Beiwen Zhang (MAS,10)
[R2] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,12) vs Line Højmark Kjaersfeldt (DEN,42)

Lots of our doubles teams are thru to the second round as well.

[sameerph]

Today's results -

[R2] (Q) Kartikey Gulshan Kumar (IND,198) l Qiao Bin (CHN,35) 7-21 3-21
[R2] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,55) d. (Q) Shreyansh Jaiswal (IND,167) 21-19 19-21 21-12
[R2] (8) Sai Praneeth B. (IND,15) d. Hu Yun (HKG,34) 21-10 21-15
[R2] Sameer Verma (IND,30) d. Tommy Sugiarto (INA,29) 21-18 19-21 21-17
[R2] (2) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,3) l Iskandar Zulkarnain (MAS,85) 19-21 17-21

[R2] (1) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) d. Linda Zetchiri (BUL,40) 21-10 21-14
[R2] Gadde Ruthvika Shivani (IND,79) l (8) Beatriz Corrales (ESP,34) 19-21 16-21
[R2] (Q) Aakarshi Kashyap (IND,241) l (3) Ratchanok Intanon (THA,4) 11-21 12-21
[R2] Mugdha Agrey (IND,105) l (5) Beiwen Zhang (MAS,10) 12-21 16-21
[R2] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,12) d. Line Højmark Kjaersfeldt (DEN,42) 21-12 21-11

Disappointing loss for Srikanth. He was playing his first tournament of the year and so might be a bit rusty. Another good win by Sameer Verma over a slightly higher ranked player.

As expected only Saina and Sindhu remain among women.

In mixed doubles, Satwik and Ashwini upset the third seeded world #11 team from Malaysia but in mens doubles Satwik-Chirag lost to a lower ranked Chinese pair.

[sameerph]

So, tomorrow-

[QF] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,55) vs Qiao Bin (CHN,35)
[QF] (8) Sai Praneeth B. (IND,15) vs (3) Chou Tien Chen (TPE,7)
[QF] Sameer Verma (IND,30) vs Iskandar Zulkarnain (MAS,85)

[QF] (1) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) vs (8) Beatriz Corrales (ESP,34)
[QF] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,12) vs (5) Beiwen Zhang (MAS,10)

[QF] Manu Attri (IND)/ B. Sumeeth Reddy (IND) vs (1) Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (INA)/ Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA)

[QF] (6) Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) vs Du Yue (CHN)/ Li Yinhui (CHN)

[QF] (7) Meghana Jakkampudi (IND)/ Poorvisha S Ram (IND) vs (2) Jongkolphan Kititharakul (THA)/ Rawinda Prajongjai (THA)
[QF] (8) Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) vs Han Chengkai (CHN)/ Cao Tong Wei (CHN)

[QF] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs (5) Mathias Christiansen (DEN)/ Christinna Pedersen (DEN)

[sameerph]

Disappointing day yesterday all except Sindhu and Pranav-Sikki bowed out.

[QF] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,55) l Qiao Bin (CHN,35) 16-21 18-21
[QF] (8) Sai Praneeth B. (IND,15) l (3) Chou Tien Chen (TPE,7) 15-21 13-21
[QF] Sameer Verma (IND,30) l Iskandar Zulkarnain (MAS,85) 17-21 14-21

[QF] (1) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) d. (8) Beatriz Corrales (ESP,34) 21-12 19-21 21-11
[QF] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,12) l (5) Beiwen Zhang (MAS,10) 10-21 13-21

[QF] Manu Attri (IND)/ B. Sumeeth Reddy (IND) l (1) Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (INA)/ Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA) 19-21 19-21
[QF] (6) Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) l Du Yue (CHN)/ Li Yinhui (CHN) 17-21 21-23
[QF] (7) Meghana Jakkampudi (IND)/ Poorvisha S Ram (IND) l (2) Jongkolphan Kititharakul (THA)/ Rawinda Prajongjai (THA) 10-21 15-21

[QF] (8) Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) d. Han Chengkai (CHN)/ Cao Tong Wei (CHN) 21-8 21-13
[QF] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l (5) Mathias Christiansen (DEN)/ Christinna Pedersen (DEN) 17-21 11-21

Today-

[SF] (1) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) vs. (3) Ratchanok Intanon (THA,4)

[SF] (8) Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) vs. (5) Mathias Christiansen (DEN)/ Christinna Pedersen (DEN)

[sameerph]

Sindhu is thru to the final.

[SF] (1) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) d. (3) Ratchanok Intanon (THA,4) 21-13 21-15

[SF] (8) Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) l. (5) Mathias Christiansen (DEN)/ Christinna Pedersen (DEN) 16-21 19-21

Next,

[F] (1) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) vs. Beiwan Zhang (USA,11) - head to head 3-1 for Sindhu but Zheng won the last match in Indonesia last year in 3 close games.

[sameerph]

Sindhu lost in the final.

[F] (1) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) l. Beiwan Zhang (USA,11) 18-21 21-11 20-22

Sindhu missed a match point at 20-19 in the third game. First major title for the American-Chinese player.

[PKBasu]

Beiwen Zhang beat both Saina and Sindhu in the Indian Open

She is originally from Liaoning (and might even have some Manchu blood, given her looks), but played for Singapore for several years, fell out with the coaches, and now represents the US. She is 27 years old, so not some new talent. She just seemed to have had a great tournament..!