China Masters: Kidambi, Tanvi secure wins in opening round, Lakshya crashes out

Shenzhen [China], September 2 (ANI): Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and Tanvi Sharma secured wins in singles competition at the ongoing China Masters tournament on Wednesday.
Several Indian shuttlers are in action on Wednesday at the China Masters, with Kidambi prevailing over Chi Yu Jen 21-16, 21-15 in men's singles first round.
17-year-old World Junior Championships silver medalist Tanvi outclassed world number 40th Amalie Schulz with a close straight-games win by 21-16, 21-17.
The Indian contingent also made inroads in mixed doubles competition, with Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto beating the pairing of Tonkid Saeheng-Tonrug Saeheng 21-8, 21-9 in the opening round.
However, one of India's biggest hopes for the title, the Commonwealth Games champion and Olympics 2024 semifinalist Lakshya Sen, crashed out in the first round, losing to Victor Lai 14-21, 7-21 in a match that kept going away from him as action progressed.
Devika Sahag also lost to Kaloyana Nalabantova 18-21, 15-21 in the women's singles first round.
India's rising shuttler Unnati Hooda bowed out of the China Masters 2026 in the first round, with a loss to world number 12 Kim Ga-eun in the women's singles opening round on Tuesday at Shenzhen.
The 18-year-old, ranked world number 25, lost to Kim 21-10, 21-18 in 37 minutes at Shenzhen Sports Centre Gymnasium in China, as per Olympics.com.Kim raced to a 4-0 lead in the opening game and raised her advantage to 11-3 in the mid-game interval.
The South Korean maintained control after the break and won the first game. In the second game, Unnati bounced back well, with a 3-0 lead, but Kim managed to move ahead to a 7-5 lead, before Indian took back the lead briefly at 15-14.
Trailing 16-18, Unnati won two points to level the scores, but Kim bounced back to win the final three points and sealed the match.
It was the first head-to-head meeting between Unnati and Kim, with the latter having won the Macau Open title in June and being part of South Africa's gold medal-winning women's team at the Asian Games 2023. (ANI)