Indian hopes dashed as Hong Kong Open journey ends

India’s challenge at the Hong Kong Open Super 500 tournament ended after two women’s doubles pairs lost in the pre-quarterfinals on Thursday. The first Indian combination to take the court was Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, who were no match for seventh seeds Apriyani Rahayu and Siti Fadia Silva Ranadhanti of Indonesia, losing 8-21 14-21 in just 36 minutes. Thereafter, all hopes were on Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa to come up with a spirited performance against top seeds Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahar of Japan and keep the country’s flag flying but the task was too tall. The unseeded Indian pair lost 18-21 7-21 in just 38 minutes against Matsumoto and Nagahara to draw curtains on the country’s campaign. Earlier, Lakshya Sen withdrew from the Hong Kong Open 2023 badminton tournament before his match on Wednesday, handing his opponent, Chinese Taipei’s Su Li Yang, a walkover. Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya, seeded eighth in men’s singles, was India’s biggest bet at the Hong Kong Open 2023, which is being held at Hong Kong Coliseum in Kowloon. Other top Indian badminton players like PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth skipped the Hong Kong meet. After world No. 13 Lakshya Sen’s withdrawal from the Hong Kong Open, Priyanshu Rajawat, India’s last remaining men’s singles player in the competition, also bowed out in the first round, losing 13-21, 14-21 against Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan. Meanwhile, Indian duo Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the women’s doubles with a 21-19, 21-19 victory over the higher-ranked Chinese Taipei pair of Lee Chia Hsin and Teng Chun Hsun. Ponnappa-Crasto’s victory, however, was the only high point in what was otherwise a disappointing day for Indian shuttlers in Hong Kong.