ORLÉANS (France), 5 Mar: Kidambi Srikanth qualified for the main draw of the Orleans Masters 2025 badminton tournament after winning both his qualification round matches at the Palais des Sports here on Tuesday.
Kidambi, the former world No 1, beat world No 52 Mads Christophersen of Denmark 21-8, 21-14 in his first qualifying match, according to a report published in olympic.com.
In his second qualifying match, Kidambi beat world No 63 Arnaud Merkle of France 21-11, 14-21, 21-12 in 55 minutes and made it through to the round of 32 stage.
Sankar Subramanian also won both his qualification round matches on Tuesday.
The world No 67 Indian shuttler beat Denmark’s Magnus Johannesen 21-19, 19-21, 21-19. He then defeated compatriot Rithvik Sanjeevi Satish Kumar 21-18, 21-12.
World No 54 Tharun Mannepalli was knocked out after losing 17-21, 21-9, 21-16 against Chinese Taipei’s Liao Jhuo-fu.
In the women’s singles qualifiers, world No 67 Tanya Hemanth won her first match but lost the second. She beat Chen Su-yu of Chinese Taipei 13-21, 21-14, 21-10 before losing to Hong Kong China’s Lo Sin Yan 21-16, 22-20.
Third seed Aakarshi Kashyap also lost 18-21, 21-15, 21-19 against Canada’s Wen Yu Zhang in a match that lasted an hour.
However, Isharani Baruah, ranked 75th in the women’s singles rankings, kept her hopes alive after hard-fought wins against France’s Qi Xuefei and Denmark’s Amalie Schulz.
She beat Qi Xuefei 12-21, 21-10, 21-12 before defeating world No 59 Amalie Schulz 25-27, 21-16, 23-21.
Unnati Hooda also won both her qualification matches on the opening day.
Hooda, 55th in the women’s singles rankings, beat Chinese Taipei’s Tung Ciou-tong 21-12, 21-16 before brushing aside Malaysia’s Kisona Selvaduray by a 21-13, 21-15 scoreline in her second qualifier of the day.
Meanwhile, the men’s doubles section saw Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy-Sai Pratheek K beat Denmark’s William Kryger Boe-Christian Faust Kjær 21-15, 21-18 in their opening round match.
Hariharan Amsakarunan-Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi, however, lost 17-21, 21-7, 21-17 to Malaysia’s Junaidi Arif-Yap Roy King.
Priya Konjengbam-Shruti Mishra, India’s sole women’s doubles pairing at the Orleans Masters, was also eliminated in the first round after losing 21-4, 21-9 against Kim Hye-jeong and Kong Hee-yong of the People’s Republic of Korea.
The Indian team is being led by Badminton Association of India executive member Bamang Tago.
