New Delhi [India], January 14 (ANI): After profitable his Round of 64 match in opposition to Japan’s Koki Watanabe on the India Open 2026 Badminton Championship, Current World No. 2 and Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn mentioned he loves enjoying in India.
The Thailand shuttler opened up about his pleasure of enjoying within the large stadium and likewise the challenges of controlling the shuttle.
‘I really feel so excited to play within the large stadium. It’s very nice…It’s troublesome to manage the shuttle, however the whole lot else was good… I hopefully strive the whole lot to be the perfect within the India Open… I believe India is a ravishing place, and I’ve many followers and excellent guys, and I take pleasure in enjoying in India,’ Vitdsarn informed reporters.
Coming to the Match, Kunlavut Vitidsarn received a tight-fought three-set contest in opposition to Japanese opponent Koki Watanabe 21-19, 25-23, 21-10.
The World No.2 received the primary set after showcasing his calmness in an in depth battle. However, the Japanese opponent bounced again and received the second set 25-23, earlier than the Thailand star clinched the third set, closing 21-10, to win the match and qualify for the subsequent spherical within the ongoing India Open 2025.
Meanwhile, India’s Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen began off his India Open marketing campaign with a win over compatriot Ayush Shetty on Tuesday.
In his match in opposition to the younger Indian shuttler, who secured the US Open title final yr, Lakshya was extraordinarily scientific and gave him only a few probabilities, profitable the match inside two video games by 21-12, 21-15.
Also, the eighth-ranked girls’s doubles pair, the Commonwealth Games silver medalist Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, beat Thailand’s Ornnicha Jonggsathapornparn and Sukitta Suwachai 21-15, 21-11. The blended doubles pair of Dhruv Rawat and Maneesha Ok crashed out within the first spherical, whereas the ladies’s doubles pair of Priya Konjegbam and Shruti Mishra additionally met the identical destiny.
India Open 2026, a World Tour Super 750 match, is being performed from January 13-18. It serves as a costume rehearsal for the celebrated World Championships 2026, with badminton motion shifting to the a lot bigger multi-purpose corridor within the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, guaranteeing followers a considerably improved viewing expertise.
As in earlier years, this version of the India Open has attracted the world’s finest badminton gamers, together with World Champion Shi Yu Qi of China, girls’s world no. 1 An Se Young, and BWF World Tour Finals champion Christo Popov. (ANI)