Opening blues for Sen in Thailand, Unnati wins

Bangkok: Star Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen suffered a shock defeat but the trio of Malvika Bansod, Aakarshi Kashyap and Unnati Hooda advanced to the women’s singles second round after hard-fought victories in the $475,000 Thailand Open Super 500 here on Wednesday.

World No. 10 pair of Tressa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, currently the best-ranked Indians in the world, also made a positive start to their campaign, reaching the second round with a 21-15 21-13 win over Malaysia’s Ong XY and C Ting.

Sen fell to Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen 18-21 21-9 17-21 in a men’s singles match.

In women’s singles, world No. 23 Malvika ousted Turkey’s Neslihan Arin 21-12 13-21 21-17. Aakarshi survived a thrilling contest against Japan’s Kaoru Sugiyama, winning 21-16 20-22 22-20.

Unnati, 17, grounded out a gritty 21-14 18-21 23-21 victory over Thailand’s Thamonwan Nithiittikrai.