Macau Open 2018: Rituparna Das wins as rest of the Indian shuttlers crash out

Rituparna Das was left the last Indian standing as the first round action came to an end at the Macau Open 2018 in Macau City on Wednesday. The former national women’s singles champion needed 24 minutes to outplay the 50th ranked Chiang Ying Li of Chinese Taipei 21-13, 21-7.

Up next for Das is the fifth seed and World No. 35 Han Yue of China. Das is currently placed at the 61st position following a string of good results since returning from an injury break.

She won the Polish International last month and made it to the final of the Belgian International, besides reaching the quarter-finals in three other BWF events.

Das’s win was the only bright spot on an otherwise disappointing day for the Indian contingent at this BWF World Tour Super 300 tournament.

2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist RMV Gurusaidutt fought valiantly for 64 minutes before bowing out to former World No. 9 Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk of Thailand, 21-13, 14-21, 16-21. Gurusaidutt had returned to action after more than a month since the Sydney International in September.

Mithun Manjunath, who had earlier qualified for this tournament, too crashed out with a 12-21, 15-21 loss to World No. 59 Firman Abdul Kholik of Indonesia while Shreyansh Jaiswal was pummelled 11-21, 6-21 by China’s Lu Guangzu.

In women’s singles, rising star Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka retired against the second seed Minatsu Mitani while trailing 12-21, 8-16.

In men’s doubles, Tarun Kona and his Malaysian partner Lim Khim Wah were beaten 12-21, 15-21 by the top seeds Chen Hung Ling and Wang Chi-Lin.

With the European swing ending at the French Open last week, the world’s top 10 ranked shuttlers are taking a break this week to gear up for a hectic Asian swing. The China Open that starts on November 6 and the Hong Kong Open the week after will provide them ample opportunity to rack up points in their bid to secure a berth at the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals in December.