Orleans Masters: MR Arjun-Dhruv Kapila pair enters men's doubles round of 16

The Indian pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila on Tuesday booked their place in the second round of the men's doubles event at the Orleans Master 2023 BWF Super 300 badminton tournament in France.

Also Read: Spain Masters Super 300: PV Sindhu becomes the first Indian ever to reach the final

Seeded seventh in the Orleans Masters tournament, MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila defeated Czech Republic's Ondrej Kral and Adam Mendrek 21-13, 22-20 in the first round. While in women's doubles, Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa beat Ireland's Kate Frost and Moya Ryan 21-9, 21-9 to enter the second round of the main draw.

With the Asian Championships around the corner, and the Olympic qualification cycle not far away, several of the top Indian shuttlers are not in action in Orleans this week, meaning there are opportunities for some of the younger athletes to make their mark at the Super 300 level.

However, Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker crashed out of the Orleans Masters tournament. They lost 21-14, 21-15 to Indonesia's Lanny Tria Mayasari and Ribka Sugiarto. None of the three Indian singles players progressed beyond the qualifiers on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, in men's singles, S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian won his first-round qualifier 21-17, 21-17 against Azerbaijan's Ade Resky Dwicahyo. But he lost to Sweden's Felix Burestedt in the second round. At the same time, Meiraba Luwang Maisnam lost 12-21, 21-18, 21-17 to Germany's Fabian Roth in the first round. While women's singles contender Anupama Upadhyaya beat Ukraine's Polina Buhrova 14-21, 21-17, 21-5 in the first qualifier. But after that, she lost to Turkey's Neslihan Yigit in the second round.

Also Read: 5 records created by Saina Nehwal

The mixed doubles team of Sai Pratheek K and Tanisha Crasto, however, stormed into the main draw. Their opponents in the qualifiers, Mihajlo Tomic and Andjela Vitman of Serbia, were forced to retire midway through their match.