Mannepalli shines as other Indian shuttlers face early exit at Swiss Open

Indian shuttlers experienced a rollercoaster of results at the Swiss Open this week, with highs and lows across singles and doubles events.

Tharun Mannepalli made a bright start, advancing to the men’s singles second round after Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto retired in the decider due to a shoulder injury . Mannepalli, ranked 43rd in the world, was leading 16-21, 21-16, 7-2 when Nishimoto, the fifth seed , withdrew. The 24-year-old, who reached the semifinals of the Macau Open last year, will now face Malaysia’s Justin Hoh.

However, several other Indian shuttlers faced early exits . Ayush Shetty , the US Open champion, lost 18-21, 19-21 to Canada’s Brian Yang in men’s singles, while Tanvi Sharma went down 11-21, 10-21 to Indonesia’s top seed Putri Kusuma Wardani in just 30 minutes. Unnati Hooda was also defeated 14-21, 14-21 by Chinese Taipei’s Chiu Pin-Chian. Additionally, HS Prannoy , the 2023 World Championships bronze medallist, gave a walkover to Japan’s Koki Watanabe.

In doubles action, the Indian mixed pair of Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde suffered a 19-21, 14-21 loss to Thailand’s fifth-seeded pair Ruttanapak Oupthong and Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat. On the brighter side, the world No. 4 men’s doubles pair , Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, progressed to the round of 16 with a 21-19, 21-19 victory over Singapore’s Eng Keat Wesley Koh and Junsuke Kubo. H Amsakarunan and M R Arjun also advanced with a 21-16, 24-22 win over Chinese Taipei’s Chen Zhi Ray and Lin Yu Chieh.

While some early exits were disappointing, Mannepalli’s win and the doubles pairs’ progress give India hope for deeper runs in the Super 300 tournament .