China Masters: Unnati Hooda Exits in Round One

India had a difficult start to its China Masters campaign on Tuesday, with Unnati Hooda knocked out in the opening round and M.R. Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan forced to retire from their men’s doubles match in Shenzhen.

Unnati, ranked 25th in the world, was up against Korea’s world No. 12 Kim Ga-eun in the women’s singles. The Korean made a confident start and took the opening game 21-10. Unnati fought back in the second and stayed in the contest for longer, but Kim held her nerve to win 21-18 and seal the match in straight games.

It was another tough outing for the 18-year-old, who made her World Championships debut in New Delhi and reached the second round. With the Asian Games coming up later this month, the China Masters was another opportunity for Unnati to test herself against one of the established names on the circuit.

There was more disappointment for India in men’s doubles. Arjun and Hariharan were up against China’s Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi but could not complete their first-round match. The Indian pair retired while trailing 8-11 in the opening game.

With two Indian entries already out, attention now turns to the rest of the contingent. Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth will begin their men’s singles campaigns, while Tanvi Sharma and Devika Sihag will feature in women’s singles. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will also begin their men’s doubles campaign.

It was not the opening day India would have wanted, but with several of its leading names still to take the court, there is plenty left to play for in Shenzhen.

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