Thailand Open: Lakshya Crashes Out; Aakarshi, Unnati Advance To Second Round

(MENAFN- IANS) Bangkok, May 14 (IANS) India's campaign at the Thailand Open, a BWF Super 500 tournament, got off to a mixed start on Wednesday, as top men's singles shuttler Lakshya Sen bowed out in the opening round, while Aakarshi Kashyap and Unnati Hooda battled their way into the second round after hard-fought victories in women's singles.

In one of the biggest surprises of the day, Lakshya Sen was ousted by Ireland's Nhat Nguyen in a three-game encounter that lasted 1 hour and 20 minutes. Sen, ranked among India's top badminton talents, went down 18-21, 21-9, 17-21 in a match that saw momentum swings.

After narrowly losing the opening game, Sen responded with a dominating performance in the second, unleashing sharp smashes and fast-paced rallies to level the match. But Nguyen dug deep in the decider, pulling ahead 17-13 and holding his composure in the pressure moments to complete the upset and move into the second round.

India's men's singles woes were compounded by Priyanshu Rajawat's exit, as he fell short in another three-game battle, losing 13-21, 21-17, 16-21 to Indonesia's Alwi Farhan.

Earlier, former world no.1 Kidambi Srikanth could not qualify for the main round of the Thailand Open 2025 badminton tournament after losing his second match in the qualifiers on Tuesday.

Srikanth, a world championships silver medallist, defeated Sankar Subramanian 21-15, 21-17 in his first round of qualifiers before losing to Tharun Mannepalli 21-16, 21-19 in the second.

In the women's singles, Aakarshi was engaged in a nail-biting thriller against Japan's Kaoru Sugiyama, eventually emerging victorious 21-16, 20-22, 22-20 in a roller-coaster clash. Unnati, one of the rising stars of Indian badminton, also impressed with her fighting spirit. The 17-year-old overcame local favourite Thamonwan Nithiittikrai 21-14, 18-21, 23-21.

After taking the first game comfortably, Unnati saw her opponent claw back in the second. But in the dramatic third game, the youngster saved match points before closing out a thrilling win in extra points.

The day, however, ended in disappointment for Rakshitha Ramraj, who faced a tough challenge against eighth seed Yeo Jia Min of Singapore. Rakshitha started positively, putting up a strong fight in the opening game, but eventually succumbed 18-21, 7-21.

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