NEW DELHI: Sankar Muthusamy, a 19-year-old shuttler from Chennai, had an impressive performance at the US Open Super 300 tournament in Council Bluffs, United States.
Sankar, the world junior silver medallist, won both of his matches in the qualification rounds to secure a spot in the main draw of the men's singles competition.
In his first match, Sankar defeated Brazil's Davi Silva with a score of 21-17, 21-11. He followed it up with another convincing victory against Canada's B R Sankeerth, winning 21-11, 21-17. These wins showcased his skill and determination as he navigated the tournament.
Sankar, currently ranked 80th in the world, is participating in his inaugural season in the senior circuit. In the main draw, he will face a challenging opponent in Ireland's Nhat Nguyen, adding further excitement to his campaign.
On the other hand, former Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap faced an unfortunate turn of events. Kashyap retired from his second match against Japan's Koo Takahashi, trailing 21-23, 7-11. However, he had a positive start to the tournament with a victory over England's Rohan Midha, winning 21-19, 21-17 in his first match.
These developments highlight the competitive nature of the US Open Super 300 badminton tournament and the determination of young talents like Sankar to make their mark in the senior circuit.
Men's doubles pair of Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala, however, couldn't cross the opening round of the main draw, losing 14-21 14-21 to Chinese Taipei's Lin Yu Chieh and Su Li Wei.
On Wednesday night, newly-crowned Canada Open winner Lakshya Sen, Olympic medallist P V Sindhu, Tokyo Olympian B Sai Praneeth and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde will begin their campaign.
The BWF World Tour is divided into six levels, namely World Tour Finals, four Super 1000, six Super 750, seven Super 500, and 11 Super 300.
One other category of the tournament, the BWF Tour Super 100 level, also offers ranking points.
(With PTI inputs)
