Badminton
Canada Open: Kidambi Srikanth prevails over Priyanshu Rajawat in a thriller
In another all-Indian encounter at the BWF Super 300 tournament, Shankar Subramanian stunned last week's champion Ayush Shetty.
Srikanth came back from a game down to overcome the 7th seeded Rajawat. (Photo credit: PTI)
India's Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the men's singles second round with a thrilling three-game win over compatriot Priyanshu Rajawat at the Canada Open Super 300 badminton tournament here on Wednesday.
The 2021 World Championships silver medalist Srikanth, who had finished runner-up at the Malaysia Masters in May, recovered from a game down to prevail 18-21, 21-19, 21-14 in a pulsating 53-minute opening-round clash.
It was a fierce battle between the two academy mates, who had faced off twice before, with Rajawat emerging victorious on both occasions — including straight-game wins at the German Open earlier this year and the 2023 Australian Open.
In another men's singles fixture that had two Indian men face off, Shankar Subramanian stunned Ayush Shetty in the opening round. Shetty, seeded 5 and fresh off his US Open 2025 triumph, was the favourite to win. But Subramanian had other ideas and pulled off a stunning 23-21, 21-12 victory.
The first game was a closely contested affair with Subramanian eventually prevailing 23-21. In the second game, riding on the confidence gained from having pocketed the first game, the southpaw forced the issue to close the door on Shetty.
In the women's singles, youngster Shriyanshi Valishetty upset the seventh-seeded Polina Bhurova of Ukraine in a tight first-round encounter, 21-18, 22-20.
She will be the only Indian in the women's singles round of 16 draw, as Ira Sharma and Tanya Hemanth failed to advance past their opening round opponents.
On the other hand, it was second consecutive first-round exit for the top-seeded mixed doubles duo of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila, losing in straight games to a Spanish pair, 15-21, 19-21.
