India enjoyed a strong day at the Macau Open Super 300 on Wednesday, with Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty and Tharun Mannepalli progressing to the men’s singles round of 16 after convincing straight-games victories.
Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen looked in command from the outset, brushing aside Korea’s Jeon Hyeok Jin 21-8, 21-14. The win sets up a clash with either Indonesia’s Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo or India’s Rithvik Sanjeevi Satish Kumar in the next round.
Ayush Shetty, fresh from claiming his maiden BWF World Tour crown at last month’s US Open, maintained his momentum. The seventh seed took just 31 minutes to dismantle Huang Yu Kai of Chinese Taipei 21-10, 21-11. His next test will come against Malaysia’s Justin Hoh, who ousted Sathish Kumar Karunakaran 21-19, 21-12.
In another highlight, Tharun Mannepalli defeated compatriot Manraj Singh 21-19, 21-13 in 39 minutes. He now faces a stern challenge in the round of 16 against Hong Kong’s top seed, Lee Cheuk Yiu. However, it was not all smooth sailing for India’s men’s singles contingent. Kiran George and Sankar Muthusamy both exited in straight games, while HS Prannoy’s struggles continued. Despite taking the first game, Prannoy fell 21-18, 15-21, 16-21 to Indonesia’s Yohanes Saut Marcellyno after 71 minutes. The veteran has yet to reach a quarterfinal in any tournament this year.
In women’s singles, it was a disappointing outing. Unnati Hooda, coming off a strong quarterfinal run at the China Open, lost momentum after a bright start and fell to Denmark’s seventh seed Julie Dawall Jakobsen in three games. Aakarshi Kashyap was beaten in straight games by Japan’s former world champion Nozomi Okuhara, while Tasnim Mir faced the toughest draw of the day — against Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei. The Chinese top seed needed just 27 minutes to wrap up a routine win.
There was brighter news in doubles. In mixed doubles, the fifth-seeded pairing of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto powered past Thailand’s Ratchapol Makkasasithorn and Nattamon Laisuan 21-10, 21-15. However, Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde fell 22-20, 21-17 to Chinese Taipei’s Wu Guan Xu and Lee Chia Hsin.
In men’s doubles, an all-Indian clash saw Pruthvi Roy and K Sai Pratheek edge past Dingku Singh Konthoujam and Amaan Mohammad 21-18, 21-19 to secure their spot in the next round.
With Lakshya, Ayush and Tharun still in contention, India’s hopes in the men’s singles remain strong as the tournament heads into its crucial stages.
