NEW DELHI: Till Monday evening, Kiran George didn’t even know if he would be playing at the $950,000 India Open. Having not got a direct entry into the men’s singles draw due to his low world ranking (No.38), the 24-year-old was relaxing with his badminton pals here when he got a call that defending champion and top seed Shi Yu Qi of China and Indonesian eighth seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting had pulled out of the Super 750 event.
The son of former national champion George Thomas, Kiran immediately reached his hotel to pick up his kit and left for the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex to prepare for his opener against a higher ranked opponent the next day, Japan’s Yushi Tanaka.
Despite lack of practice, the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA) product dug deep to beat the world No.25 21-19, 14-21, 27-25 in a thriller that lasted an hour and 11 minutes.
But it looked like Kiran’s luck had run out in the second round on Thursday as he was down six game points (14-20) against Frenchman Alex Lanier, ranked No.17 in the world. The Kochi born shuttler though kept his cool, dug deep again and just tried to keep the shuttle in play long enough for his opponent to make errors to save all game points and win the first game 22-20.
The 19-year-old Lanier, who had caused the biggest upset of the opening day by ousting reigning world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand, was completely deflated in the second game. Kiran seized his opportunities with precise smashes to clinch the second game 21-13 to enter the quarter-finals.
“I was just taking one point at a time, not thinking about the lead, whether I’m trailing 14-20. That helped me to secure the first game. For sure, fortune also favoured me. I was just being patient, not giving away easy points. That’s what changed (the game),” said Kiran after an unlikely win.
Kiran will take the court on Friday as the only Indian representation in the category after Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy and Priyanshu Rajawat – the country’s highest ranked male shuttlers – all exited in the first round on Wednesday.
“It feels good. But I’m focused on my next match. It’s a huge confidence booster. It’s just about hard work and being relentless, playing patiently. I didn’t have anything to lose, I just gave my all. I didn’t think about winning or losing. Hence, I could play freely,” added Kiran, who will take on China’s world No.15 Weng Hong Yang, against whom the Indian has a 1-1 head-to-head.
Sindhu, Satwik-Chirag advance too
Former world champion PV Sindhu rekindled memories of her aggressive self to register a straight-game win while the men’s doubles combination of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty came back from a game down to advance to the quarter-finals.
Sindhu hammered Japan’s Manami Suizu 21-15, 21-13 in 46 minutes in what was the first meeting between the two. While the former champion had looked slightly rusty in the opener against Shuo Yun Sung of Chinese Taipei, the world No.16 was much more aggressive against Suizu, going for winners from both sides of the court.
Sindhu now faces Indonesian fourth seed and Paris Olympics bronze medallist Gregoria Mariska Tunjung against whom the Indian has a 10-3 record. “After a break, what I liked about my game today was my movement and my attacks were working well. Moving forward, I need to be ready for anything because matches will get harder,” said Sindhu.
Later, 2022 champions Rankireddy and Shetty had to regroup after losing the first game to beat Kenya Mitsuhashi and Hiroki Okamura 20-22, 21-14, 21-16. This was their second win in as many meetings against the Japanese.