Shuttlers Rasika, Shreyanshi, Uttejitha, Anura qualify for India Open

New Delhi, March 28 (IANS): Indian women shuttlers Rasika Raje, Pardeshi Shreyanshi, Sai Uttejitha and Anura Prabhudesai qualified for the India Open Superseries, while the Indian mixed doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and B. Sumeeth Reddy lost in the qualification round here on Tuesday.
The women shuttlers made amends for the losses of their male compatriots, with Aditya Joshi and Harsheel Dani suffering disappointing defeats.
A total of 15 Indian women Indian players were in the fray with Rasika, Shreyanshi, Uttejitha and Anura winning both their matches to advance to the main draw of the $325,000 tournament.
Rasika beat Amolika Singh Sisodiya 21-11, 15-21, 21-9 before getting the better of Akarshi Kashyap 21-18, 21-16 to sail into the next round at the Siri Fort Sports Complex. Shreyanshi got a walkover in her first match against Mudaliar Pooja, while in her second match, she beat Vaidehi Choudhari 21-12, 18-21, 21-10 to seal her spot.
Uttejitha had a rather easy outing winning both her matches. In her opening match, she outclassed Lalita Dahiya 21-12, 21-12. She beat Deepali Gupta 21-7, 21-8 in her second match.
Prabhudesai beat Ira Sharma in her first match 21-14, 21-13 followed by 21-13, 21-14 victory over Debora Rumate Vehrinica of Indonesia.
While the women’s players excelled on the day, it was a heartbreak for the Indian men shuttlers as none of them could make it to the main draw of the tournament.
Former junior world No.1 Aditya Joshi crashed out of the qualifying after he lost his opening round match 14-21, 11-21 against Kenta Nishimoto of Japan.
Harsheel Dani of India also could not advance into the main round after he lost to Rahul Yadav 21-12, 15-21, 12-21.
Yadav, however, could not proceed further as he lost to Nishimoto 6-21, 12-21 in his second match.
In the women’s doubles action, Mahima Aggarwal and K. Maneesha made it through to the main round after they won both their matches. The young Indian pair beat the duo of Smriti Nagarkoti and Parssa Naqbi 21-11, 21-16 in their first match followed by a win over 21-18, 21-15 win over Anto Agna and Sneha Santhilal.
In the mixed doubles competition, star Indian pair of Ashwini and Sumeeth Reddy could not qualify for the main draw as they went down to the English pair of Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith 17-21, 18-21 in their opening match.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Maneesha also crashed out of the tournament after they lost their second match of the day against 9-21, 18-21 the Korean pair of Jae Han Kim and Lee So Hee.