India's French Open Dreams Dashed: Early Exits in Badminton Showdown

India's aspirations at the French Open badminton tournament were brought to a halt early, as Unnati Hooda, along with the doubles teams of Rohan Kapoor-Ruthvika Gadde and Kavipriya Selvam-Simran Singhi, suffered decisive defeats in the second round.

Rising Indian star Unnati Hooda managed to surpass the first round as the sole singles player but succumbed to Wang Zhiyi of China, a match that ended with scores of 21-14, 21-11 after 39 minutes. Initially besting Malaysia's Letshanaa Karupathevan, Unnati soon lost footing to Wang's aggressive play in both games.

In mixed and women's doubles, India's presence faded as Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde narrowly missed victory against the seasoned Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue, losing after an intense hour and 15 minutes. Meanwhile, Kavipriya Selvam and Simran Singhi faced a swift defeat against South Korea's world number three duo, Kim Hye Jeong and Kong Hee Yong.

Earlier shocks had already hit when men's doubles favorites Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were ousted by an unseeded Indonesian pair. Simultaneously, Lakshya Sen's struggle against Ireland's Nhat Nguyen brought an abrupt end to India's men's singles campaign.