French Open: India's campaign wraps up in second round with shuttler Unnati Hooda's defeat

Brittany [France], October 24 (ANI): India's campaign at the French Open concluded in the second round, with Unnati Hooda and the doubles teams of Rohan Kapoor-Ruthvika Gadde and Kavipriya Selvam-Simran Singhi crashing out with bitter defeats.

The 18-year-old rising sensation Unnati was the sole Indian singles shuttler to go past the first round. The 18-year-old went down to Wang Zhiyi of the People's Republic of China by 21-14, 21-11 at the Glaz Arena. The 35th-ranked women's shuttler was outclassed by world number two Wang in straight games in a fixture that lasted for just 39 minutes.

She overcame Letshanaa Karupathevan of Malaysia in the first round and got off to a decent start against her Chinese opponent. Unnati raced to a 4-3 lead early on in the first game. However, Wang upped the ante and comfortably pocketed the opener.

Unnati tried to stage a comeback in the second and claimed the first two points. However, Wang won 11 consecutive points on the trot to take the fixture beyond the Indian youngster's grasp.

Meanwhile, in the mixed doubles category, India's campaign fizzled out with Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde bowing out. While squaring off against the World Championships bronze medallists, Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue, the Indian pair lost 21-23, 8-21, 17-21 in one hour and 15 minutes.

In the women's doubles category, India's Kavipriya Selvam and Simran Singhi were ousted by world number three Kim Hye Jeong and Kong Hee Yong of South Korea by 21-7, 21-9 in 34 minutes.

Earlier in the tournament, India's popular men's doubles duo, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, suffered a shocking first-round ouster. While facing the unseeded Indonesian pair of Rahmat Hidayat and Muhammad Rian Ardianto, Satwik and Chirag went down in 42 minutes, 21-18, 22-20.

In the men's singles category, Lakshya Sen suffered an early exit from the French Open 2025 badminton tournament after losing in straight games to Ireland's Nhat Nguyen in the opening round. (ANI)

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