Toyota Thailand Open: A mixed day on court for the Indian entourage

Toyota Thailand Open: A mixed day on court for the Indian entourage
PV Sindhu
PV Sindhu

The second tournament of the Asian leg, Toyota Thailand Open Super 1000, took off in Impact Arena, Bangkok on 19th January 2021. Bangkok and the authorities in Thailand have been incredible in pulling off an event of such stature with such strict safety protocols in place, and ensuring the tournament went smoothly.

Minor issues were reported by players but they have been promptly resolved which is truly appreciable. It is a moment of cheer that competitive badminton has finally resumed. Carolina Marin, who won the Yonex Thailand Open last Sunday said, “Thank you very much to BWF and to Thailand and all the organisers. Thanks to them we could start to play tournaments in this difficult time.” 

Also read: Toyota Thailand Open: Full schedule, draws and where to get live streaming in India

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It was a mixed day for India in the Toyota Thailand Open. To start with, India’s world champion PV Sindhu emerged victorious over Busanan ONGBAMRUNGPHAN who beat Saina Nehwal in the second round last week, 21-17 21-13. The first game was close, but she comfortably took the second game outclassing Busanan, making her move all around the court and finishing with precise shouts in the gaps.

Kidambi Srikanth had a comfortable win against local athlete Sitthikom THAMMASIN 21-11 21-11. Last week, Kidambi had pulled out in the second round match against Lee Zii Jia due to a calf muscle strain.

Saina Nehwal Thailand OPen
Saina Nehwal suffered defeat by the hands of former world champion Ratchanok Intanon

Fourth seeded Ratchanok Intanon, former world champion beat London 2012 Bronze medalist Saina Newhal, 21-17, 21-8.

In the mixed doubles category, the powerful pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, played a brilliant game, making comebacks while trailing and won the match 23-21, 21-18. The match truly showed their grit and determination. Their defence was good, however, slacking at times which gave away leads to their Danish Opponent Niclas Nohe and Amalie Magelund who used that to take leads.

Sameer Verma Thailand Open
Sameer Verma upset the eighth seed

Sameer Verma has created ripples in the circuit by eating the eighth seed Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia 18-21, 27-25, 21-19. It was gruelling, marathon match lasting an hour and fourteen minutes.

Sourabh Verma went down to fifth seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia 21-16, 21-11. Parupalli Kashyap, who had retired due to injury in the third set of his first-round match against Jason Anthony of Canada, last week, retired in the first round today after playing three rallies against his Danish opponent Rasmus Gemke.

The men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty beat seniors Manu Attri/Sumeeth Reddy in a nerve-wracking encounter 22-20, 28-26 to get into the round of 16.

Tomorrow, 20 January 2021, will be the second day of the round one matches. The match fictures are as follows

  • Sai Praneeth vs Liew Daren
  • Prannoy HS vs Jonatan Christie (6)
  • Asgwini Ponnappa/ Siki Reddy vs Linda Efler/Isabel Herttrich
  • Sumeeth Reddy/Sikki Reddy vs Hoo Pang Ron/Cheah Yee See
  • Dhruv Kapila/Arjun M R vs Abhinav Manota/Oliver LEYDON-DAVIS

Also read: Yonex Thailand Open 2021: Carolina Marin outclasses Tai Tzu Ying to clinch the title