Unseeded Ashmita Chaliha beat Japan’s third seed Akane Yamaguchi 21-19, 21-18 in 37 minutes at the French Open in Paris on Thursday. PV Sindhu also reached the quarter-finals with a straight-games win over Riko Gunji, while Ayush Shetty withdrew injured and Tanvi Sharma lost to An Se-young.
Paris, France: Earlier this month, Akane Yamaguchi beat Ashmita Chaliha at the Denmark Open. On Thursday, in the round of 16 of the Super 750 French Open, the unseeded Indian answered with a straight-games upset over the Japanese third seed and former world champion.
Chaliha closes out both games
The match lasted 37 minutes. Chaliha won the first game 21-19 and the second 21-18, so neither game was a blowout: she took them by two and three points. Yamaguchi had won their previous meeting, at the Denmark Open, where Chaliha went out in the first round. This time the result went the other way, and a place in the last eight is the reward.
Sindhu sets the pace against Gunji
PV Sindhu made her own case in Paris against Japan’s Riko Gunji. She led 3-0 early, was pegged back to 5-5, and then won ten of the next eleven points to take the first game 21-12. In the second she opened a 4-0 lead, turned at the interval 11-6 ahead and closed it 21-16 in 44 minutes. It was a calmer outing than her round-of-32 escape, a three-game thriller against Supanida Katethong that she won 23-21 in the decider.
Injury and an exit for India
Not everything went India’s way. Ayush Shetty withdrew from his round-of-16 match against sixth seed Kodai Naraoka, trailing 17-21, 6-11, with what was reported as an undisclosed injury. A day earlier he had come through a three-game opener against Kidambi Srikanth. Tanvi Sharma, meanwhile, lost 11-21, 14-21 to top seed An Se-young in 37 minutes.
What comes next
Sindhu and Chaliha are now both in the women’s singles quarter-finals, giving India two players in the last eight of that event. Shetty’s fitness is the next thing to watch on the men’s side, with no details of his injury given so far.
Result summary: French Open (BWF Super 750), Paris, round of 16.
Ashmita Chaliha bt Akane Yamaguchi (3) 21-19, 21-18 (37 min).
PV Sindhu bt Riko Gunji 21-12, 21-16 (44 min).
An Se-young (1) bt Tanvi Sharma 21-11, 21-14 (37 min).
Kodai Naraoka (6) v Ayush Shetty: Shetty withdrew injured, trailing 17-21, 6-11.
