Badminton
Swiss Open: Treesa/Gayatri knocked out, PV Sindhu starts title defence
All England semi-finalist pair of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly faced a first-round exit in the Swiss Open 2023.
Badminton duo Gayatri Gopichanad and Treesa Jolly (Source: Odisha Open)
After a strong show at All England Championships last week, the duo of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly exited in the first round of the Swiss Open after losing to world rank 5 pair of Apriyani Rahayu and Siti Fadia Ramadhanti.
The Indian pair lost to the experienced Indonesian pair in straight sets 21-14, and 21-14.
In a match that went on for 41 minutes, the Indian pair clearly looked fatigued after having an intense last week in Birmingham and lost the match without any fight.
In men's doubles, MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila went down against the Japanese pair Akira Koga and Taichi Saito in a marathon match of one hour by 21-17, 18-21, and 11-21.
PV Sindhu starts title defence
World number 9 shuttler PV Sindhu has endured a very tough start to 2023. After returning from a 5-month layoff due to injury, Sindhu has been knocked out in the opening rounds of all three tournaments she has played.
She lost to Carolina Marin in Malaysia Open, Supanida Katethong in India Open, and Zhang Yi Man in All England Championships.
Sindhu will look to turn her year around at the Swiss Open as she takes on Jenjira Stadelmann in the first round of her title defence.
In men's singles, HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, and Kidambi Srikanth will feature after a disappointing exit in the All England Open last week.
HS Prannoy will take on China's Shi Yuqi, Lakshya Sen will take Hong Kong's Lee Cheuk Yiu, and is likely to run into fellow Indian Kidambi Srikanth, who opens against the 23-year-old Weng Hong Yang of China.
