Orleans Masters: Aakarshi Kashyap storms into main draw after wins

Aakarshi Kashyap will compete in the main draw of the Orleans Masters after winning her qualifier matches against Shriyanshi Valishetty and Lee Yu-Hsuan. She is set to play Singapore's Yeo Jia Min in the first round of the BWF Super 300 event.

Aakarshi Kashyap qualifies for main draw

Indian shuttler Aakarshi Kashyap will be in action in the main draw of the ongoing Orlean Masters badminton tournament on Wednesday after securing wins in both of her qualifier matches. On Tuesday at the Palais des Sports in France, the world number 63 started off her campaign with a well-fought win by 21-19, 17-21, 21-13 over compatriot Shriyanshi Valishetty in a match that lasted just over an hour, as per Olympics.com.

Later on, a victory against Chinese Taipei's Lee Yu-Hsuan earned her a qualification to the main draw. In the main draw, she will take on Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Yeo Jia Min of Singapore in round one.

Disappointment in Men's Singles

The country's sole men's singles qualifier, Sankar Subramanian, however, failed to make a mark in the tournament, failing to reach the main draw after a 21-12, 21-18 loss to Olympic bronze medallist Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia.

Mixed Fortunes in Doubles

The women's doubles challenge of India ended early in Orleans as the pairing of Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam conceded a walkover against Rui Hirokami and Sayaka Hobara of Japan in the opening round. But the men's doubles pair of MR Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan gave fans something to cheer about, as they advanced to the second round after Jiri Kral and Ondej Kral of Czechia retired after conceding the first game.

Other Indians to Begin Campaign

Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth, as well as youngsters Ayush Shetty, Malvika Bansod, Anmol Kharb and Tanvi Sharma also kickstart their run in France at the BWF Super 300 tournament on Wednesday.

Top Stars Skip Tournament

India's big-ticket shuttlers like the men's duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and Paris 2024 semi-finalist Lakshya Sen gave the tournament a skip. (ANI)

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