India’s campaign at the Canada Open Super 300 badminton tournament came to an end after Tanya Hemnath’s second-round exit. Hemnath, who had earlier defeated USA’s Disha Gupta 21-16, 21-18 in the opening round, lost to Japan’s Riko Gunji 21-11, 21-11 in the second round. Her defeat marked the conclusion of India’s run at the event.
Aakarshi Kashyap also bowed out in the second round after a hard-fought match against fourth seed Beiwen Zhang of the USA. Kashyap won the first game 22-20 but lost the next two 17-21, 17-21. Kidambi Srikanth, who was runner-up at the US Open Super 300 last week, retired in his opening match against Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia while trailing 11-10, citing injury concerns.
Other Indian shuttlers including Devika Sihag, Rakshitha Ramraj, Shriyanshi Valishetty, and Anmol Kharb exited in the first round. Men’s singles players Saneeth Dayanand and Sankar Subramanian, along with men’s doubles pair Achutaditya Rao Doddavarapu and Arjun Reddy Pochana, also suffered early defeats.
Out of nine Indian players in the tournament, seven crashed out in the opening round, with only Hemnath and Kashyap advancing briefly before their second-round exits. The disappointing campaign highlighted fitness concerns and the need for stronger performances against higher-ranked opponents on the international stage.
