Defending Champion India faces Thailand in their Thomas Cup Opener.
While the Thomas Cup is the world badminton team championship for men, the Uber Cup is the women’s version. Both championships are held simultaneously biannually.
Two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu overcame Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour to move into the second round of Denmark Open Badminton at the Jyske Bank Arena in Odense.
World no 12 Sindhu won 21-14, 18-21, 21-10 against the world No. 28 Scottish shuttler. Sindhu’s compatriot Aakarshi Kashyap, who secured a late entry to the tournament, also made it to the next round. The world No. 38 Indian came from behind to beat Germany’s Yvonne Li, laced 12 places above her in the rankings, 10-21, 22-20, 21-12.
Sindhu will face Indonesian Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, the seventh seed, in the round of 16 of the BWF Super 750 tournament . Tunjung had beaten Sindhu in the Spain Masters final earlier this year.
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The former World Champion who made the semi-finals of the Arctic Open last week, started well and cruised through in the opening game. Gilmour, however, turned the tables in the second game and despite a late rally by the Indian , managed to force a decider.
Sindhu, was in complete control of the third game and picked up her second victory over Gilmour in three meetings. The match lasted 56 minutes.
However, in men’s singles, Kidambi Srikanth crashed out losing to China’s Weng Hong Yang 21-19, 10-21, 16-21. It was the former world No. 1’s seventh opening round loss in 15 BWF World Tour tournaments this year.
Lakshya Sen was also knocked out in the first round after a 16-21, 18-21 loss to Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen.
World no 1 doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, re listed to play Malaysia’s Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi in their opener.. The Indian pair pulled out at the last moment, handing their opponents a walkover.
Women’s doubles pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand and the men’s doubles duo of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila also withdrew before the tournament
The results at the Denmark Open will count towards players’ qualifying rankings for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
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