Canada Open: Injury forces Srikanth out as Indian challenge falters
Ontario, July 2
India's campaign at the Canada Open 2026 endured a difficult opening day as seven of the nine singles players crashed out in the first round, with former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth's run ending prematurely due to injury at the Markham Pan Am Centre on Thursday.
Facing Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia in one of the marquee men's singles contests, Srikanth was forced to retire while trailing 11-10 in the opening game, bringing an abrupt end to a contest that had promised to be closely fought. The setback came just a week after the Indian had defeated Lee en route to finishing runner-up at the US Open. The result also extended Lee's head-to-head advantage to 6-3 over Srikanth.
India's hopes in the men's singles draw quickly faded after Srikanth's exit, with Saneeth Dayanand and Sankar Subramanian also bowing out in their opening-round matches.
Third seed Yudai Okimoto of Japan proved too strong for Saneeth, securing a dominant 21-7, 21-11 victory in straight games.
Sankar Subramanian showed early promise by taking the opening game against South Korea's Yoo Tae-bin, but was unable to maintain the momentum, eventually going down 19-21, 21-15, 21-15 in three games.
The women's singles draw offered the only bright spots for the Indian contingent as Tanya Hemnath and Aakarshi Kashyap progressed to the second round with convincing victories.
Tanya overcame USA's Disha Gupta 21-16, 21-18 to book a meeting with Japan's Riko Gunji in the round of 16.
Aakarshi, the Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, also advanced comfortably after dispatching France's Anna Tatranova 21-14, 21-12. She will now face fourth seed Beiwen Zhang of the United States for a place in the quarter-finals.
The remainder of India's women's singles campaign, however, ended on the opening day.
World No. 33 Devika Sihag, India's highest-ranked women's singles player in the tournament, suffered a straight-games defeat, while Shriyanshi Valishetty also exited without taking a game.
Rakshitha Ramraj stretched Canada's Rachel Chan but lost 15-21, 21-14, 21-15 after surrendering the opening-game advantage.
Anmol Kharb fought hard against top seed Michelle Li, recovering to claim the second game after saving match points, but the Canadian eventually sealed a 21-6, 24-26, 21-13 victory to end the Indian teenager's challenge.
India had also lost its only men's doubles representatives before the singles action gathered pace, with Achutaditya Rao Doddavarapu and Arjun Reddy Pochana making an early exit from the BWF Super 300 tournament.
With just Tanya Hemnath and Aakarshi Kashyap left in contention, India's hopes at the Canada Open now rest solely on the women's singles pair as the tournament heads into the second round.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Our men's singles depth is really concerning now. Srikanth is getting older, and the younger players aren't stepping up consistently. Saneeth and Sankar both losing in the first round? We need to invest more in grassroots badminton in India, seriously.
Tanya Hemnath is playing really well lately! And Aakarshi Kashyap has that Commonwealth medal experience. But facing Beiwen Zhang in the next round is tough. Need to play aggressive and control the net. Come on girls, make us proud! 🙏
I'm Canadian but follow badminton closely. Srikanth's injury really changed the dynamic of that match – Lee Zii Jia was looking sharp but Srikanth was matching him. The Indian women's singles players showed some real fight though, especially Anmol Kharb pushing Michelle Li to three games. Great effort!
Honestly, our singles players need to work on fitness and consistency. Srikanth has had too many injury-related exits. And the others – they show promise but can't close out matches. Only bright spot is the women's side. BAI should focus on developing young talent instead of relying on past stars.
So proud of Tanya and Aakarshi! Finally some good news from Indian badminton. The men's doubles pair losing early is also disappointing – we've never really had strong doubles except for Satwik-Chirag. Need more focus on building pairs. All the best to the girls! 💪
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