Korea Open: Malvika Bansod, B.Sumeeth Reddy-Ashwini Ponnappa pair face Round-2 defeat

Suncheon [South Korea], April 7 (ANI): It was a disappointing day for Indian shuttlers as Malvika Bansod lost in women’s singles while the mixed doubles pair of B.Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa also faced ouster in the second round of the Korea Open Badminton Championships 2022 on Thursday here at Palma Stadium.
World No.65 Malvika Bansod of India was no match for World No.10 and sixth seed Thai opponent Pornpawee Chochuwong losing 8-21 14-21 in a match that lasted for 39 minutes.
Right from the opening game, Chochuwong dominated the proceedings by taking an early lead. In the second game, Malvika Bansod was neck-to-neck at 3-3 but the sixth seed Pornpawee Chochuwong won seven consecutive points to race to a 10-3 lead and ultimately win the game 21-14.
In mixed doubles, B.Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa lost a hard-fought three-game battle to China’s Xuan Yi Ou and Ya Qiong Huang.
The Indian pair started off brilliantly taking a 5-0 lead in the opening game. Going into the break Sumeeth Reddy-Ashwini Ponnappa led 11-7. But the Chinese pair came from behind to take a 19-18 lead and ultimately won the game 22-20.
In the second game too the Indian pair took an early lead of 4-1. The Chinese pair won four consecutive points to make it 5-4. In a seesaw battle, Reddy-Ponnappa won six consecutive points to take a 10-5 lead. Despite trailing the Chinese players managed to claw their way back into the game to make it 16-16. The Indians held their nerves better to win the second game 21-18 taking the match to the decider.
In the third and final game B. Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa looked completely out of sorts as the Chinese pair of Xuan Yi Ou and Ya Qiong Huang took a 10-2 lead. The Indian pair tried to fight back but it turned out to be too little too late for them as they lost the third and final game 14-21.
B.Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa lost their second-round match 20-22 21-18 14-21. (ANI)