Indonesia Open: Sathish-Aadya upset world no 16; Treesa-Gayatri enter second round

Currently world number 37 in the BWF Rankings, Sathish and Aadya started well in the second game, trailing 9-10 at one point. Hong and Nicole erred on the nets twice to hand a lead to the Indian pair for the first time in the match, and the Indian pair took it with both hands. Aadya was brilliant on the net and drew the Taipei pair forward, leading to their net error, while Sathish was immaculate with his positioning of shots and powerful returns, often leading to a mistake by the Taipei pair.

In the second game, the Indian pair didn’t look back after taking the lead and won the game 21-16 to force a decider. A similar script played out in the final game when the Indian pair dominated the net, drawing errors from the opponents but also making a few. In the end, Sathish-Aadya emerged victorious after making their way to the second round.

Treesa-Gayatri move to the next round

It was a straight win for the Indian women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand as they cruised to the second round after a straight-game victory over the Ukrainian pair of Polina Burhova and Yevheniia Kantemyr.

The world number 12 registered a simple win in the first game with 21-14. However, the Ukrainians played much better in the second, and the Indian pair also committed more mistakes.

The second game was a rollercoaster ride with both pairs making mistakes. At the mid-game break, the Ukrainian pair led 11-10, but the Indian pair recovered and were tied at 18-18. Treesa’s drop and a net error from the Ukrainian pair meant that the Indian pair were leading 20-10. The Ukrainian pair saved two match points to make it 20-20, but a brilliantly positioned shot from Gayatri and a net error from Polina meant that the Indian pair secured their berth in the second round.

Treesa-Gayatri will face the world number nine pair of Japan, Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto, in the second round.

Other Indians exit

The two wins were the only positives for the Indian contingent on the day as Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde were shown the door by the Japanese combination of Yuichi Shimogami and Sayaka Hobara 14-21 9-21 while Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh lost 15-21 9-21 to Denmark’s Mads Vestergaard and Christine Busch. India’s top-ranked mixed doubles pair, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto, also had to endure the same fate as they lost 11-21, 21-16, 14-21 against second seeds Tang Jie Chen and Ee Wei Toh of Malaysia.

In men’s singles, Kiran George fought well against Loh Kean Yew in the first game but was completely outplayed in the second game, losing in straight games 20-22, 9-21.

© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd