Indian badminton players delivered an impressive performance at the Taipei Open Super 300, with Kidambi Srikanth, Ayush Shetty, Tharun Mannepalli, and Unnati Hooda progressing to the second round.
Srikanth, currently ranked World No. 61, comfortably defeated fellow Indian Sankar Subramanian 21-16, 21-15. The former World Championship silver medallist is set to face Ayush Shetty next. Shetty pulled off a stunning upset, knocking out third seed Lee Chia Hao of Chinese Taipei 21-17, 21-18 in a tightly contested match.
Tharun Mannepalli, the 2023 National Games gold medallist, secured a hard-fought victory against Japan’s Shogo Ogawa, winning 21-17, 19-21, 21-12 in a marathon 70-minute battle. He will take on Indonesia’s Moh. Zaki Ubaidillah in the second round. Meanwhile, Meiraba Luwang Maisnam bowed out after a 21-23, 12-21 defeat to Canada’s Brian Yang.
In women’s singles, rising star Unnati Hooda, a two-time Super 100 titleholder, dominated her match against fellow Indian Anupama Upadhyaya, claiming a 21-13, 21-17 victory. She now faces Lin Sih Yun of Taipei in the next round. However, Aakarshi Kashyap exited the tournament after a 9-21, 12-21 loss to Hung Yi-Ting of Chinese Taipei.
Indian shuttlers will look to continue their strong performance as the tournament progresses, aiming for deeper runs in Taipei.
