Thailand Open: Lakshya Sen bows out in first round; Malvika, Aakarshi, Unnati advance

STAR Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen suffered a shock defeat in the first round of the Thailand Open Super 500 tournament in Bangkok on Wednesday.

Sen, a 2021 World Championships bronze medallist, fell to Ireland's Nhat Nguyen in a tense three-game battle, losing 18-21 21-9 17-21 in a match that lasted one hour and 20 minutes.

After dropping the first game, Sen found his rhythm in the second, dominating with aggressive rallies.

However, Nguyen held his nerve in a close-decider, edging ahead at 17-13 before sealing the win.

In women's singles, the trio of Malvika Bansod, Aakarshi Kashyap and Unnati Hooda advanced to the women's singles second round after hard-fought victories.

World No. 23 Malvika, a runner-up at the 2024 Hylo Open, ousted Turkey's Neslihan Arin 21-12 13-21 21-17 to set up a clash with former world champion Ratchanok Intanon, seeded seventh.

Aakarshi survived a thrilling contest against Japan's Kaoru Sugiyama, winning 21-16 20-22 22-20.

It was a match of narrow margins, with the Indian holding her nerve in the final stages of the decider.

The 17-year-old Unnati, the 2022 Odisha Masters and 2023 Abu Dhabi Masters winner, also fought her way through to the next round, registering a gritty 21-14 18-21 23-21 victory over Thailand's Thamonwan Nithiittikrai.

Unnati, who reached the semifinals at Taipei Open last week, will face top seed Thai Pornpawee Chochuwong, while Aakarshi meets fourth-seeded Supanida Katethong, also from Thailand.

In women's doubles, the world No. 10 pair of Tressa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, currently the best-ranked Indians in the world, also made a positive start to their campaign, reaching the second round with a 21-15 21-13 win over Malaysia's Ong XY and C Ting.

The third-seeded Indian combination will next square off against Japan's Rui Hirokami and Sayaka Hobara.

World No. 33 Priyanshu Rajawat too made a first-round exit as he went down 13-21 21-17 16-21 against Alwi Farhan of Indonesia.

Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj also lost her women's singles opener 18-21 7-21 to eighth seed Yeo Jia Min of Singapore.

Former national champion Anupama Upadhyaya, who was part of India's Sudirman Cup team, too fell by the wayside, going down 11-21 9-21 to Thailand's former world champion Ratchanok Intanon.

The women's pair of K Selvam and S Singhi, and men's pair of P Krishnamurthy Roy and S Pratheek K also lost in the opening round of doubles events.