Asia Badminton Championship 2023 | Malvika Bansod goes down fighting against Akane Yamaguchi, Lakshya Sen ousted in first round
On the first day of the Asia Badminton Championship 2023, Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and PV Sindhu advanced to the second round of the competition. But the biggest surprise of the day came when young Malvika Bansod troubled the world no.1 Japanese shuttler 23-25, 19-21 in a tight contest.
The world no. 42 perhaps played the finest match of her career so far and was close to winning both games on numerous occasions. Eventually, her inexperience led to her failure when it mattered the most, but this contest will give her the confidence to play other big players in the future.
On the other hand, the 2019 world champion Sindhu defeated Wen Chi Hsu 21-15, 22-20 in a 46-minute affair. At one point, she was trailing 11-14 in the first game but then went on to win the next nine points to take a lead. The second game was a closer affair but Sindhu managed to secure the win. She will now face world No. 9 Han Yue of China.
Meanwhile, it was an easy outing for Srikanth, as he only took 25 minutes to beat Adnan Ebrahim 21-13, 21-8. He will be up against the world no. 5 Kodai Naraoka from Japan. In another men's singles match, Lakshya Sen was no match to Loh Kean Yew and lost 7-21, 21-23.
In women's doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand came back from behind and registered a 17-21, 21-17, 21-18 win against Indonesia's Lanny Tria Mayasari and Ribka Sugiarto.
Results
Lakshya Sen lost to Loh Kean Yew (Singapore) 7-21, 21-23; Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala lost to Takuro Hoki and Yog Kobayashi (Japan) 15-21, 17-21; PS Ravikrishna and Sankar Prasad Udayakumar lost to Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee (Malaysia) 12-21, 17-21; Malvika Bansod lost to Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) 23-25, 19-21; Akarshi Kashyap lost to Komang Ayu Cahya Dewi (Indonesia) 6-21, 12-21; Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam lost to Meilysa Trias Puspitasari and Rachel Allessya Rose (Indonesia) 20-22, 12-21, 18-21; Haritha Manazhiyil and Ashna Roy lost to Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai (Thailand) 11-21, 2-21; Rohan Kapoor and Sikki Reddy bt Chan Peng Soon and Cheah Yee See (Malyasia) 21-12, 21-16.