India’s campaign at the Denmark Open Super 750 tournament came to a disappointing halt on Wednesday, as both the women’s and mixed doubles teams faced early exits after intense battles. The pairs of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand in women’s doubles, and B. Sumeeth Reddy and N. Sikki Reddy in mixed doubles were eliminated in their opening matches.
In the women’s doubles, Jolly and Gopichand encountered a tough challenge against Malaysia’s fifth-seeded duo, Pearly Tan and Muralitharan Thinaah. Despite an early lead and a 21-19 win in the first game, the Indian pair couldn’t sustain their momentum, ultimately losing 21-19, 17-21, 15-21. The match lasted one hour and 14 minutes, with the duo unable to capitalize on their initial advantage. Though ranked 21st in the world, they faced a formidable opponent, holding a 1-5 head-to-head record against the seventh-ranked Malaysians.
The mixed doubles match mirrored this outcome, with B. Sumeeth Reddy and N. Sikki Reddy battling hard but falling to Canada’s Kevin Lee and Eliana Zhang. After winning the first game 22-20, they narrowly lost the second 19-21 and dropped a nail-biting third game 22-24. This match lasted one hour and two minutes, marking yet another early exit for India.
Despite these setbacks, there is still hope in singles competition. Later that day, 16-year-old rising star Unnati Hooda was set to face USA’s Lauren Lam in her women’s singles opener, while Satish Kumar Karunakaran was scheduled to take on Li Yang Su of Chinese Taipei in men’s singles.
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Earlier in the tournament, India faced additional challenges, with 2021 World Championship bronze medallist Lakshya Sen losing to China’s Lu Guang Zu in a thrilling three-game match. Malvika Bansod and Aakarshi Kashyap also exited in the first round of the women’s singles.
The only bright spot in India’s campaign came from P.V. Sindhu, the two-time Olympic medallist, who advanced to the second round after her opponent, Pai Yu Po of Chinese Taipei, retired midway through their match, with the score at 21-8, 13-7 in Sindhu’s favor.
