Priyanshu Rajawat, the promising Indian shuttler, delivered a stunning upset at the Canada Open, defeating higher-ranked Rasmus Gemke of Denmark in a hard-fought three-game contest to advance to the second round of the men’s singles event. Rajawat, ranked 39th in the world, had to dig deep to overcome the eighth-seeded Gemke, winning 17-21, 21-16, 21-14 in a match that stretched over an hour and 10 minutes on Wednesday night. This victory makes Rajawat the only Indian player remaining in the men’s singles competition, and he will next face Takuma Obayashi of Japan.
Meanwhile, two other Indian players in the men’s singles event, Ayush Shetty and S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian, were eliminated. Shetty lost in straight sets, 14-21, 11-21 to sixth seed Koki Watanabe of Japan, while Subramanian was defeated by France’s Alex Lanier, 16-21, 17-21.
In the women’s singles, India saw success as Tanya Hemanth and Anupama Upadhyay progressed to the second round. Tanya overcame a tough challenge from Canada’s Jackie Dent, winning 21-13, 20-22, 21-14, while Anupama secured a comfortable victory against Ireland’s Rachael Darragh, winning 21-11, 21-11. Tanya will next face third seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand, while Anupama will play Canada’s Michelle Li.
