The seventh edition of the $325,000 BWF Metlife Yonex Sunrise India Open Superseries got under way at the Siri Fort Indoor Stadium in New Delhi with the qualifying rounds getting completed on Tuesday. Two of India's most talented teenagers, however, had to bite the dust and could not find a berth in the main draw.
Former junior World No. 1 Siril Verma crashed out in the first round of qualifying, losing 14-21, 11-21 to the 51st ranked Korean Jeon Hyeok Jin in 35 minutes.
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It also didn't go well for the 16-year-old doubles exponent Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, who tumbled out in the final round of mixed doubles qualifying alongside Maneesha K. The second seeds won a round before losing 9-21, 18-21 to the Korean combine of Jae Hwan Kim and Lee So Hee in 25 minutes.
Satwiksairaj will still be in action in men’s doubles along with Chirag Shetty. The two won the Vietnam International this Sunday.
The third-seeded combination of Rohan Kapoor and Sanjana Santosh also lost 13-21, 14-21 to the English team of Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith in the final round.
Harsheel Dani, who made it to the semi-finals of the 2017 Syed Modi International, too succumbed to a 21-12, 15-21, 12-21 defeat to his compatriot Rahul Yadav Chittaboina in Round 1 of men’s singles qualifying. The latter was beaten by Kenta Nishimoto, 6-21, 12-21 in the very next round.
20-year-old Harshit Aggarwal started his challenge on a winning note but could not carry that momentum to the next round, losing to China’s Zhao Junpeng, 21-18, 8-21, 18-21 in a tight battle. Junpeng now goes on to meet the 2015 champion Srikanth Kidambi, whom he got the better of in their most recent showdown in the first round of the All England Championships this month.
Teenaged Anura Prabhudesai stuns fourth seed
18-year-old Anura Prabhudesai played beyond her age to topple the fourth-seeded Debora Rumate Vehrenica, 21-13, 21-14 and secure a main draw berth in women’s singles. She will face the World No. 20 Sayaka Sato of Japan in the opening round on Wednesday. The other Indians who qualified in that category are Rasika Raje, Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka and Pardeshi Shreyanshi.
In women’s doubles, the second seeds Shruti Mundada/Anoushka Parikh and third seeds Maneesha K/Mahima Aggarwal progressed into the main draw. But the fourth seeds Dhanya Nair and Riya Pillai gave a walkover to the English duo of Gabrielle Adcock and Jessica Pugh after winning their first round.
