India's young badminton players Ashmita Chaliha and Malvika Bansod suffered defeats in their first-round matches of the women's singles event at the Japan Open on Tuesday, as reported by PTI.
Ashmita, who faced the top-seeded Tai Tzu Ying from Chinese Taipei, lost in straight games with scores of 16-21, 12-21. Malvika, meanwhile, was defeated by Ukraine's Polina Buhrova in a close encounter losing 21-23, 19-21.
Aakarshi Kashyap, another Indian shuttler, is scheduled to play her opening-round match against Korea's Kim Ga Eun later in the day at the BWF World Tour Super 750 tournament.
In the mixed doubles category, the Indian duo of Sathish Kumar Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath will commence their campaign against the Indonesian pair of Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto and Lisa Ayu Kusumawati.
Notably, none of the Indian badminton players who participated in the recent Paris Olympics are competing in this tournament.
