BWF French Open
Paris, Oct 20: Fresh from a string of consistent performances in Asia, India’s premier men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will look to go the distance at the French Open Super 750 badminton tournament, beginning here on Tuesday.
The world No. 6 duo, who reached the finals at both Hong Kong and China Masters before bowing out in the semifinals of the Denmark Open last week, will start against the Indonesian combination of Muhammad Rian Ardianto and Rahmat Hidayat.
Having rediscovered their rhythm after an injury-plagued mid-season, the Indians will aim to convert their recent form into a title run at one of their favourite venues – the tournament where they had claimed their maiden Super 750 crown in 2022 and also won in 2024.
They also claimed a second bronze at world championships in Paris this year.
Among others, Lakshya Sen, who reached the final of Hong Kong Open, will begin his men’s singles campaign against Nhat Nguyen of Ireland once again, while young Ayush Shetty, the US Open champion, faces a tough test against Japan’s Koki Watanabe.
Lakshya had defeated the Irish shuttle in three games last week at Denmark.
In the women’s singles, rising star Anmol Kharb, who made a breakthrough semifinal appearance at the Arctic Open Super 500 earlier this month, has drawn a formidable first-round opponent in top seed An Se-young of Korea.
Anupama Upadhyaya will meet fourth seed Han Yue of China, while Unnati Hooda, fresh from her semifinal finish at the World Junior Championships, takes on Malaysia’s Karupathevan Letshanaa.
The men’s doubles draw also features Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy and Sai Pratheek K, while the women’s doubles will see an all-Indian first-round clash between Kavipriya Selvam and Simran Singh and the Panda sisters, Rutuparna and Swetaparna.
In the mixed doubles, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto and the duo of Rohan Kapoor and Rutvika Shivani Gadde will look to make their mark against experienced international pairs. (PTI)
