Basel, Mar 11 (PTI) Kiran George produced a stunning straight-game win over former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in a mixed day for Indian shuttlers at the Swiss Open here on Wednesday.
Kiran, ranked 42 in the world, outwitted third seed Loh 23-21, 21-19 in his opening round match to set up a clash with Hong Kong’s Jason Gunawan.
Gunawan ended the campaign of former world no. 1 Kidambi Srikanth, who suffered a 21-15, 12-21, 4-21 in another round of 32 match.
Indian mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto also notched up an upset win over fourth sed Jesper Toft and Amalie Magelund of Denmark 21-15, 21-14 in their opening match.
The duo will face China’s Gao Jia Xuan and Wu Meng Ying next.
However, several Indian players, including Ayush Shetty and Tanvi Sharma, bowed out in the opening round of the Super 300 tournament.
In the men’s singles, Ayush Shetty, the US Open champion, lost 18-21, 19-21 to Canada’s Brian Yang, while Chinese Taipei’s Chiu Pin-Chian outclassed Unnati Hooda 21-14, 21-14 in the women’s singles.
Top seed Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia had earlier brushed aside India’s Tanvi Sharma 21-11, 21-10 in a one-sided contest that lasted just 30 minutes.
India also suffered a setback after HS Prannoy, the 2023 World Championships bronze medallist, gave a walkover to Japan’s Koki Watanabe.
Mixed Doubles pair of Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde also suffered a 19-21, 14-21 loss to fifth seeds Ruttanapak Oupthong and Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat of Thailand.
Meanwhile late on Tuesday, world No. 4 men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the round of 16 with a 21-19, 21-19 win over Singapore’s Eng Keat Wesley Koh and Junsuke Kubo.
H Amsakarunan and M R Arjun also progressed with a 21-16, 24-22 win over Chinese Taipei’s Chen Zhi Ray and Lin Yu Chieh. PTI ATK BS BS
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